Starving mob beat cattle to death with stick in desperate search for food as four people were killed during looting in Venezuela (Details, pics)

A shocking video showing a starving Venezuelan mob beating a cow to death with stones has gone viral amid violent protests that have left four people dead.

Dozens of men shout 'we are hungry' and 'people are suffering' as they surround the cow in the field, throwing stones at it and beating it with a stick. The helpless animal was slaughtered at the Hacienda Miraflores, in the fishing village of Palmarito in Merida, during a day deadly of civil unrest and looting in the state.

When the animal finally falls to the ground in the footage, more villagers gather around - presumably to begin the distribution of its meat.

According to local media, dozens of cows were killed by the crowds at several different ranches.

'They're hunting. The people are hungry!' says the narrator of the video, who filmed the incident from his car.

Opposition congressman Carlos Paparoni posted the footage on social media to show the desperation that many Venezuelans are experiencing in the face of scarcity and controversial policies introduced by President Nicolas Maduro.

'This is not the way. These actions will destroy our national production more quickly and bring more hunger and scarcity,' said Paparoni. He said about 300 animals were believed to have been killed in the area.

Calm soon returned to the troubled areas, which were rocked by the scenes of looting in recent days, but not before four people died and 10 injured. 'People went down to a centre which stored food and gas bottles and caused damage and stole flour, rice, oil and gas,' said Zuley Urdaneta, a veterinarian and farmer from the village of Tucani, who also said that a government supermarket was looted.

Urdaneta, 50, also witnessed the looting of a truck along the highway around 2 pm on Thursday afternoon. About two hours later, he said some 800 people converged on a food collection center and proceeded to plunder it.