One American is dead and another was left begging for his life after a botched coup was stopped in its tracks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Chilling footage caught the moment two of the plotters were seized trying to flee the country across the Congo River before groveling for mercy to Congolese soldiers as they lay bleeding in the street.

Marcel Malanga, 21, accompanied his former refugee father Christian to the central African country from their home in Utah to lead the coup against the autocratic government of President Felix Tshisekedi.

But the father was shot dead and the son was arrested alongside two American co-conspirators during the bungled putsch as the US government scrambled to distance itself from involvement.