This is the heartbreaking moment a car driver slams on the brakes to try and avoid a falling tree but ends up stopping right underneath it where two of the four people inside were crushed to death.

A second video shows how police and firefighters pull the bodies of two people from the wrecked car after the falling tree was felled during a violent hurricane on 19th November.

The two victims, not identified, were the driver and front-seat passenger of the smashed vehicle in Novokuznetsk, a city in south-western Siberia, Russia.

Two other passengers, also not identified, escaped with their lives, local media reported.

A third piece of footage shows rescuers and volunteers gathered on the street, attempting to pull out the dead victims.

The tree’s massive trunk had nearly snapped the black vehicle in half and had it pinned against the ground, making it difficult to remove the people inside.

Later, firefighters were seen attempting to reach the victims from the open boot.

But that also seemingly proved nearly impossible, as the clip then cuts to show they had placed numerous logs underneath the enormous tree so it could slide off.

The car roof appears to have been completely cut off and the bodies of the driver and the passenger were exposed.

Paramedics declared them dead at the scene, according to local media.

The two survivors were rushed to hospital. Their condition is currently unknown.

The head of Novokuznetsk, Sergei Kuznetsov, said an emergency had been declared in the city after strong winds damaged electricity lines and buildings.

Kuznetsov called on citizens not to leave their homes due to the hurricane winds, adding that trams and trolleybuses would not operate due to the power outage.

Local shops and kindergartens were also closed on Monday, he added.

Kuznetsov noted that such a disaster had not occurred in the country since 1978.