Guatemalan villagers lynch 5 men accused of robbing homes after earthquakes

Members of a rural community in Guatemala hard hit by this week’s earthquakes lynched five men they accused of robbing damaged homes, authorities said Friday.

Guatemala’s Interior Ministry said that residents of Santa Maria de Jesus organized themselves to search for the men and then blocked authorities who tried to detain and take them away.

Overnight, residents beat the men with sticks and stones and then burned them in the community, which lies in the Sacatepequez department southwest of the capital.

The community still lacks electricity and potable water following the series of dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks Tuesday, which killed seven people across Guatemala.

Authorities did not immediately report any arrests in the lynchings.