Russian man in Cancun attacked by Mexican mob over insults

A Russian man has been put into protective custody in hospital after a mob attacked him in Cancun, authorities say.

The Russian, identified as Aleksei Makeev, 42, in the Caribbean resort of Cancun was attacked with sticks and rocks over his repeated insults against locals. Police rescued him on Friday (19 May) night after the crowd stormed into his apartment.

He had allegedly posted disparaging and insulting remarks about local people in videos he posted on social media.

The Mexican media circulated blurry footage of the attack on Saturday. In one clip, people can be heard shouting "You're going to die" and "I'm going to cut your head off," as quoted by Reuters.

Makeev had even stabbed a youth who got into his apartment, which escalated the violence, Guillermo Brahms, secretary general of Benito Juarez municipality said.

He also said that a young man who was injured later died in hospital.

Authorities said Makeev made videos of himself insulting local people in Russian, English and Spanish. In some, he even spoke against the backdrop of swastikas.

Brahms said that the police managed to rescue Makeev. They took him to hospital for treatment as he was bloodied in the attack but is reported to be in a stable condition.

According to police, frequent complaints were made against Makeev's behaviour. There were requests made to deport him.

There is no clarity as to how long Makeev had been in Mexico. Aquaworld, a company offering maritime tours in Cancun, said in a statement on Facebook that because of his aggressive behavior he had been dismissed from its payroll in November 2015.

Multiple complaints had been filed against Makeev because of his behavior, said Mexico's National Migration Institute in a separate statement. They said they were seeking the cooperation of Russian authorities to deport him.