Protesters in the south-western Guatemalan city of Retalhuleu set a 27-year-old soldier on fire, after they reportedly confused him with an extortionist.

Local newspaper Siglo 21 reported the incident based on reports by the Spanish news agency EFE.

Julio Ortiz Ordóñez, who was not on duty and at the scene merely to observe the demonstration, was sprayed with gasoline and set aflame, subsequently suffering third-degree burns on 40 percent of his body, noted Hugo Rodríguez, the spokesman of the National Army of Guatemala. The soldier was in a "state of shock," he added. 

Firefighters assisted Ortiz Ordóñez at the scene and then took the soldier to a local medical assistance center, where they were able to stabilize him. Later, the young man was transported to a well-known hospital in Guatemala City, the country's capital, according to La Página.

The incident occurred when about 150 individuals protested, demanding an end to daily extortion to which they are subjected, Siglo 21 reported. The protesters apparently belonged to an association of motorcycle taxi drivers.

But an unidentified source told the Argentine news agency Telam the demonstrators were also unsatisfied with the local health system, which they said had suffered a collapse due to a sanitary crisis, and that their goal was to force better care.

Police sources, meanwhile, noted that the protesters resorted to violence when Ortiz Ordóñez refused their demands not to take photographs of their assembly, La Página reported.

Rodríguez said the attack on Ortiz Ordóñez was an "isolated incident." Nevertheless, the Guatemalan military was taking steps to coach soldiers to "take safety measures when they encounter such situations in the area so as to not become the target of any aggression," the army spokesman added, according to Siglo 21.

Unnamed officials of the local Prosecutor's Office told Telam the body had begun an inquiry into the incident, but that local authorities have yet to detain anybody over the attack.