POLICE have walked off the job, the city’s murder rate has soared and lawlessness officially rules.

Welcome to the southeastern Brazilian city of Vitoria which now resembles a nightmare amid a crime wave that left at least 70 people dead in the space of just two days, the Associated Press reports.

More than 1000 army troops have been called in to patrol the streets of the city located in the state of Espirito Santo after local police walked off the job following a dispute over pay on Saturday.

The city soon descended into lawlessness as looters took advantage of the lack of police on the streets with some on social media comparing the situation to a movie scene.

O Espírito Santo está parecendo cenário de filme. pic.twitter.com/S8kAM1vY2q — Matheus Tavares (@theutavares) February 6, 2017

The ensuing chaos also prompted the #PrayForEspiritoSanto hashtag with users detailing more of what was taking place.

Bad conditions In Brazil streets Military Police goes strike. #SomosTodosMilitares #PrayForEspiritoSanto — Elliot (@ElliotBrazil) February 7, 2017

The killings in the city in Espirito Santo state (about 740 kilometres northeast of Sao Paulo) came as patrol cars stopped cruising the streets while the friends and family of military police officers blocked their barracks to demand higher pay for their uniformed loved ones.

Yesterday, store windows, doors were shattered as looters took advantage of the situation and civil police used force to stop some thieves, shooting at least one man in the leg.

The troops were deployed to help halt the crime spree now taking place.

Defence Minister Raul Jungmann said on Monday that the federal troops will remain until the situation is brought under control.

“Our commitment is to restore normalcy, order, peace and tranquillity in Vitoria and where else necessary,” he said.

Schools, banks and public health centres remained closed on Tuesday and the closure of health services meant there could be no vaccinations for yellow fever in the city, even as Brazil experiences its worst outbreak of the disease since 2000.

Espirito Santo has seen 14 confirmed cases in the current outbreak, and dozens more are under investigation.

Public buses resumed operating on Tuesday morning. But the president of the local bus transportation workers union Edson Bastos said the vehicles would stop service for the day at 7pm.

Images aired by the Globo television network showed nearly empty streets and only a few stores opened.

The lawlessness comes after a court ordered the protesters to end their blockade, but the demonstrations outside barracks continued on Tuesday.

Brazil’s Military Police, which patrols the cities in Latin America’s biggest country, is barred by law from going on strike.

PROTESTS WHICH SPARKED CRIMEWAVE

Protests calling for higher pay began this weekend outside military police barracks across the small, coastal state and have prevented vehicles from leaving.

That means the military police are virtually unable to patrol the streets, though a few foot patrols took place on Monday, the Department of Public Security said.

Brazil’s military police play a crucial role in maintaining general security, while civil police used force to stop some thieves, shooting at least one man in the leg.

The protests come as Brazil grapples with a deep, protracted recession and many states struggle financially.

In Rio de Janeiro state, where the government is desperately trying to plug a huge deficit, public servants have repeatedly protested over late pay, sometimes clashing violently with police.

The protests in Espirito Santo have “paralysed the military police service, not just in the capital but also in the entire state,” according to the state’s head of public security, Andre Garcia.

He confirmed there had been a marked increase in crime since the protests began.

Despite a court ordering the protesters to end their blockade, the demonstrations have continued.

Because of their crucial role, members of the military police are not allowed to engage in strikes.

But Garcia, the head of public security, implied that officers were behind the movement, which he called “supposedly spontaneous.” Major Rogerio Fernandes Lima, a union representative, denied to reporters that military police had organised the protests but said the officers supported the goals, namely higher pay. He said officers in the state are among the worst paid in Brazil.

— with staff writers