Man suffered one of the most horrific deaths imaginable when his car plunged into a sinkhole

While this might seem like a crazy plot for an action or thriller film, a man and his colleague suffered one of the most horrific deaths imaginable as people hopelessly watched on.

Back in November 2019, Vladimir Valyalkin, 49, was driving in a car park in the Russian city of Penza.

But as his 35-year-old colleague Igor Chikasov sat in the passenger seat, the car suddenly plunged into an inescapable sinkhole.

And as CCTV caught the terrifying moment, the hole slowly filled up with boiling water.

Bystanders couldn’t do anything but just stand and watch as the nightmare unfolded and Valyalkin and Chikasov met their tragic fate.

The car ended up in the sink hole. (East2West News)

It turns out, one of the pipes used to pump hot water into the buildings to heat them during the harsh Russian winters had ruptured.

And unbeknownst to them driving through the car park, this constant flow of hot water was slowly eroding the ground below their wheels.

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A journalist from Penza Vzglyad, a local news website, said that a car had driven over the same spot just minutes earlier.

"The driver noticed [the] ground beginning to steam - and quickly drove off," they began. "Then these two men came. They parked - and the asphalt collapsed right under them."

Both men died. (East2West News)

As the pair drove across the area, steam is said to have blocked their view and the ground ended up swallowing the car.

The vehicle was flipped onto its side meaning the men were trapped inside and unable to open up the doors.

Some reports do say the men managed to get their seatbelts off and kick at the windscreen but it’s said the pair tragically died ‘immediately' as a result of the 75°C water that surrounded them in the sinkhole.

Another viral clip shows the car later being pulled out of the gigantic hole in the car park - sadly along with one of the men.

While they weren't held criminally responsible for the deaths of the two men, Water company T Plus, who owned the damaged pipe responsible for the men's gruesome demise, offered to pay compensation to the men's families and cover the costs of their funerals.

The local Ministry of Emergencies said in a statement at the time: “A car fell as a result of the ground collapsing.

“Sadly people were killed.”

Topics: Russia

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_