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Villagers in the Amazon jungle exacted revenge on two motorbike thieves by lashing them to a tree swarming with deadly ants for THREE DAYS.

Authorities say the two thieves, aged 18 and 19, nearly died after being stung by the poisonous fire ants in the attack in Ayopaya, western Bolivia.

Dr Roberto Paz, of Bolivia’s Cochabamba hospital, said one was in intensive care while the other needed dialysis for kidney failure.

A sister of one of the men - who are accused of stealing three motorbikes - said that villagers had held them for nearly three days.

They were only freed on Saturday when relatives paid a ransom of around £2,200 - nearly four times Bolivia’s average annual wage.

Villagers had demanded the payment as compensation for the loss of the motorbikes.

The sister said that the men would have died if her relatives had not paid the ransom.

The venomous ants - whose scientific name is pseudomyrmex triplarinus - live on the triplaris tree, which grows throughout Central and South America.

Their poison can be deadly but is used in small doses as a traditional cure for arthritis.