NEW DELHI, June 27 (Xinhua) -- At least four people went missing on Wednesday after a passenger car they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into a river in India's western state of Maharashtra, officials said.

The accident took place near Daman village in Ratnagari district, about 346 km south of Mumbai city, the capital of Msaharashtra.

"Today four people went missing after a car they were travelling in skidded off Mumbai-Goa highway and plunged into Asavi river near Dhamani village," a police official said. "However, the driver managed to come out of the river."

Following the accident rescue operation was carried out by locals who alerted police.

Officials said later coast guards and disaster response force personnel were pressed into service to search the missing.

Reports said the searches were going on until last reports poured in.

Police have registered a case and ordered investigations.

Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.