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A woman has died after a mob of angry vigilantes tied her to a tree infested with poisonous fire ants as punishment.

The 52-year-old victim, who was wrongly accused of stealing a car, was rescued alive by police but died from breathing problems after she was rushed to hospital .

The tiny insects chewed on her windpipe, resulting in severe swelling that closed her airway.

Villagers targeted the woman after she had gone to help her son who had been bound to the tree after they accused him of being a car thief.

(Image: EyeEm)

The woman's daughter received the same punishment but she and her older brother survived.

Local reports said the trio were also beaten and burnt using an accelerant.

The shocking incident happened on New Year's Eve in Caranavi, Bolivia, around 100 miles north-east of the capital La Paz.

A local radio station published a picture of two of the three victims blindfolded and bound to the tree while villagers including a woman with a child in her arms and a schoolboy kneeling on the ground looked on from a few feet away.

Local authorities said preliminary investigations had showed the dead woman and her children, aged 22 and 28, had travelled to the area from La Paz to recover a debt.

(Image: Neil Palmer Flickr)

The tree they were tied to was a Palo Santo, a mystical tree growing on the coast of South America which is the favourite haunt of colonies of the Brazilian fire ant known for their extremely painful bites.

Local police chief Gunter Agudo said: “Initially the investigation was opened as a probe into an attempted car theft but now it has been changed to a murder and serious assault investigation.”

Only one person has been arrested so far on suspicion of inciting locals to commit their shocking act, although the authorities have confirmed others took part.

Roxana Bustillos, lawyer for the family targeted by the vigilantes, said: “It’s probable that the ants bit the victim’s windpipe, which caused an inflammation and meant she wasn’t able to breathe.”

One local described the trio, despite the authorities’ insistence they suspected no wrongdoing on their part, as criminals who had gone to the area to “make mischief” and said they had picked on poor people who had made huge sacrifices to obtain their own vehicle.

But Roberhtmar Aramayo, who described himself as a nephew of the dead woman, said on the Facebook page of a local radio station: “Damned community Indians of Caranavi.

“My family is suffering the loss of my beloved aunt. I hope the courts clarify what’s happened because they’ve left my cousins orphans.”