The car was traveling on a country road in Lengerich in the direction of Handrup when it came off the road in a right-hand bend and crashed into a tree. The force of the impact was so great that the car was torn in two.
The 42-year-old father was thrown out of the vehicle and died at the scene of the accident. The child could only be recovered dead from the wreckage. The cause of the crash is still being determined, police said.