Brazilian troops are being deployed in the state of Espírito Santo after looting, rape and murders broke out after military police went on strike.

The chaos has been compared to the 2014 thriller film The Purge, where people take advantage of the absence of law and order to carry out horrific crimes.

With officers staging a walk-out over conditions, thugs are running riot, with people running rampant with guns and machetes, shops being robbed, buses set on fire and dead bodies are left lying in the street.

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A bus burns violently after it was torched on the street during the chaos in Brazil

The Brazilian federal government today ordered troops into the city of Vitoria, north east of Rio de Janeiro, which has been left at the mercy of criminals.

The defence ministry said soldiers were being sent in 'due to the serious public safety situation'.

Brazil's Defence Minister Raul Jungmann visited Vitoria today on a fact-finding mission.

A man is left bloody and battered amid the chaos caused by the military police strike

Police officers have been blockading police stations in protest against unpaid salaries since Saturday.

The acting governor of Espirito Santo state, Cesar Colnago, had earlier begged President Michel Temer 'to send the National Force and the army to safeguard the security of citizens'.

Local media said crime rates had quadrupled over the weekend.

Globo television broadcast cellphone footage of burned and smashed buses, looted shops, carjackings and a crowd running in panic from what appeared to be gunshots.

Students stayed at home and classrooms will remain shuttered 'depending on the security situation'.

State security chief Andre Garcia said the police chief had been replaced and the new commander had been tasked with 'restoring order and discipline'.

Talks are to take place with the disgruntled officers but they have been told they have to go back to work first.

Vitoria and its suburbs have a population of 1.8 million people, while a total of 3.9 million live in Espirito Santo state.

A paramedic attends to a man who is left on his back in the riots in Espírito Santo

Thugs break into a shop and can be seen running out of the door with a handful of goods

Dramatic footage from the Purge-like chaos during which one person was shot

Harrowing scenes were reported from all around the state, and one resident told Political Outsource: 'The thugs are randomly shooting at anyone who passes the street in Espírito Santo. My God what is happening.'

Schools have been closed and even football matches cancelled in the affected areas due to the lack of security, which has meant many people are refusing to even venture outdoors.

'I won't even leave my house today,' one Brazilian resident in Espirato Santo told Political Outsource.

'Things are absolutely crazy, there are people running around with guns in pretty populated areas, dozens of people stealing from malls, even dead bodies on streets.'

The chaos has been captured on camera by a number of worried residents as well as the thugs

Police, aided by relatives and sympathizers blockading police stations, have been protesting against unpaid salaries since early Saturday.

With no patrols on the streets over the weekend, assaults and other crime have multiplied, Brazilian media reported.

State security chief Andre Garcia said on his Facebook page that the police chief had been replaced and that the new commander was tasked with 'restoring order and discipline.'

Talks would take place with the disgruntled officers 'but with the fundamental condition that police are put on the streets,' he said.

'All possible means will be used to police the streets.'

State Secretary of Public Security André Garcia told Globo: 'The first step taken by the government to overthrow this movement was the filing of a lawsuit requiring the illegality of the movement to be enacted.

'Our intention is to negotiate, always, but this negotiation must be based on mutual respect, and the condition for the police come to patrol the streets and answer the calls of the Capixabas citizens.'

The government has threatened to file a lawsuit against the force, claiming the strike is illegal.