Harrowing video captures moment men boiled alive after car plunges into sinkhole

Harrowing footage has emerged of the moment a car plunged into a scorching hot sinkhole – boiling its two passengers alive.

Dad-of-three Vladimir Valyalkin , 49, was driving in a Lada with Igor Chikasov, 35, in a car park when the hole appeared.

Steam immediately started rising from the opening, which appeared to block the view of Vladimir.

In the video, the car is seen dropping into the sinkhole sideways as onlookers rush to react.

The pair were trapped in the vehicle and died “almost immediately” as a result of the 75C water.

Another clip then shows the van being pulled out along with one of the men.

It is believed a pipe rupture was the cause for the sinkhole in the Russian city of Penza yesterday.

Water company T Plus promised to pay compensation to the families of the dead men and meet the costs of their funerals.

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

“Sadly people were killed.”

Hot water is piped to work and residential buildings in Russia for heating during the severe winters.

A journalist from Penza Vzglyad local news website said that another car had driven over the same spot minutes earlier before the accident.

“The driver noticed ground beginning to steam – and quickly drove off,” they said. “Then these two men came.

“They parked – and the asphalt collapsed right under them.”

Social media users have commented their outrage at the incident online and senior officials have launched an investigation into what happened.