Guatemalans riot after child abductions

About 1,500 residents of a remote Guatemalan village rioted on Monday over the purported kidnappings of two children, burning down a police station and holding their mayor and another man hostage.

The confrontation erupted when 10 police officers tried to stop the villagers from seizing an 18-year-old man whom they accused of the kidnappings, Cunen police spokesman Carlos Calju said.

Overwhelmed police fled, and the mob torched the station and the house of a woman who allegedly tried to buy the children, Calju said.

A special forces team was being sent to restore order, said police chief Mynor Delgado of the nearby town of Santa Cruz del Quiche.

The children, ages 6 and 7, were abducted on Thursday in Cunen, police said. Both were recovered unharmed within two days.

Crowds frequently take justice into their own hands in remote areas of Guatemala, killing at least 350 people since 1996 in acts of vigilante justice.

On June 16, a mob killed a woman whom it accused of trafficking abducted children.