A 21-year-old man is dead and another is fighting for life after a ute carrying five people crashed into a tree in rural Victoria on Sunday morning.

Police believe the ute, which was carrying five people, rolled down a hill in a paddock before wrapping around a tree. The 21-year-old man, from Ashburton, died at the scene.

It is believed the single-vehicle collision occurred at around 11.05am on Sunday morning.

Two passengers were airlifted to hospital including a 22-year-old Malvern man who sustained life-threatening injuries and a 21-year-old woman with non-life-threatening injuries.

Emergency crews worked for hours to free the man in critical condition.

Two of the passengers escaped the crash without injury.

The site of the crash was a property off Macklins Road in Limestone which is approximately 80 kilometres north-east of Melbourne.

The crash is currently under investigation and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

There have now been 191 lives lost on Victorian roads in 2023, up 23.2 per cent in comparison to this time last year.

Photo: Ambulance by Ed Dunens available HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified.