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A Volkswagon beetle was torched on Saturday night, in downtown Sao Paulo, after the driver tried ran over a mattress that had been set on fire.

A family of five inside the vehicle, including a four year old, quickly abandoned the car with the assistance of protesters and photographers, as the fire took hold.

The protests gathered more than 2,000 participants in Sao Paulo, with a cornerstone of the

protests and one of the biggest criticisms being the use of public money for the completion of the football world cup.

The driver and owner of the vehicle said that the protesters wore black scarves to cover their faces and were setting fire to mattresses to intercept the route. The vehicle owner believes one of the mattresses was positioned near the vehicle intentionally, and that he also tried to drive off in the hope of extinguishing the flames.

Risking his own life for a beetle....