Five police officers in the United States have been arrested and charged with murder of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, who died in hospital after he was brutally beaten during a traffic stop earlier this month.

The officers identified by names as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were arrested and charged on Thursday.

Mr Nichols was pulled over by the officers from the Memphis Police Department (MPD) on January 7 for reckless driving but the routine traffic stop quickly escalated and resulted in the black man being tortured by the men in uniform.

The assault led the 29-year-old into hospital before he succumbed to death three days later.

According to preliminary findings of an autopsy commissioned by his family, Mr Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating”. A photo taken by the family before Mr. Nichols passed on, showed his face bruised and swollen.

The five officers, all of whom are black, were fired on January 20 after internal investigation by the MPD found them to have “violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid.”

In the latest developments on Thursday, all the five officers involved in the traffic-stop-turn-deadly incident were arrested and hit with various charges in connection with Mr Nichols’ death.

They were all charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and official oppression, with the district attorney’s office expected to provide an update on the investigation later today.