MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti) - Police in central Russia have detained two people on suspicion of burning to death a beggar, the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday.

The incident occurred in the city of Saransk in the republic of Mordovia. The detainees are 18 and 20 years old.

The attack took place after the 68-year-old man approached the two outside a shop to ask them for spare change. They doused him in petrol and set him alight. They also attempted, unsuccessfully according to police, to film the scene.

The attackers then fled but were arrested the following day.

"The victim died of his burns in an intensive-care ward on the night of March 24," an Investigation Committee statement said.