A man who took a child hostage at knifepoint in eastern Thailand was hacked to death with his own weapon by the boy's engaged relatives, police said Tuesday.
The unidentified man, believed to be aged in his 20s, was dressed only in underwear when he burst into a house, snatched the little boy and demanded to be driven out of the village in Chantaburi province.
He held the family at bay by holding the weapon, a large curved blade, to the child's throat.
"Then he accidentally dropped the knife on the floor and four relatives ran to chop up the hostage-taker," said police captain Montri Sirichan. The man was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital late Monday.
During the melee, the four relatives were also seriously injured, Montri said.
Police were trying to identify the man, who was unknown in the small rural settlement.
"Nobody knows who he is and where he from," Montri said -- BANGKOK (AFP)
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