BAADA YA WATOTO WAWILI KUUAWA DARASANI UKO GUATEMALA PITIA PICHA NA MAELEZO KUJUA KILICHOTOKEA

Horror: A child looks at a crime scene in a classroom of a primary school after two children, a 8-year-old and a 13-year-old, were killed by a man with a machete in Tactic, in Alta Verapaz region

Scene: A woman walks past the blood stain of a man who was lynched and burnt alive by a mob after killing two children

'He walked into to one of the classrooms and assaulted the students, completely beheading a 13-year-old boy and slitting the throat of an 8-year-old girl with a machete,' Tactic firefighter Wilson Cahuec said.

 Local security officials said the dead man had a history of drug problems and violence, but they have not yet identified a motive for the attack.

Fox News have reported that the mob was made up of teachers and local residents.

They have also said Authorities identified the slain students as Evelyn Yanisa Saquij Bin, 8, and Juan Armando Coy Cal, 13.

Rough justice: A woman hits a man with a stick after he is accused of theft - with the baying mob urging more punishment

Attacked: A woman uses a pair of scissors to cut the face of a man who was accused of theft in Tactic

Retribution: This man was tied up and beaten by the villagers of Tactic who are taking out their own forms of justice in the wake of a double child-killing

The official said the bodies of the children had defensive wounds.

Lynch mobs are not uncommon in areas of Guatemala where police are scarce.

The country's human rights agency says 234 attempted lynchings took place in 2011 and at least 40 people were killed.

Following the horrific acts of violence, tensions were running high around the local neighbourhoods, who began to dish out their own 'mob rule' punishments.

Four men suspected of thieving were captured and beaten by angry residents who obviously felt that their own methods of punishment were more suitable to the law enforcers'.

Thankfully, for the men at least, they were rescued by the police and arrested, but only after they had been tied up, hit with sticks, punched and kicked.

Hefty: This woman delivers a clubbing blow on the suspected thief's head

Take that: Despite the police presence, this man connects with a right hook on the would-be thief

Rescued: Bloodied and bruised after their beatings, the men are arrested and led away by the police