Ratnagiri, May 19 : At least five people were killed when a car in which they were travelling lost control and plunged into the Jagbudi River in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district on Monday.

The unfortunate incident happened in the early hours on the Mumbai-Goa Highway. The occupants were travelling from Mumbai to Devrukh to attend a funeral ceremony.

While five died in the accident, the driver of the car sustained injuries and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The cause of the accident was not known yet. As per preliminary reports, the car lost control, skidded off and fell 100 to 150 feet into the river. The accident took place around 5 a.m.

Locals and rescue officials moved quickly to the scene and tried to rescue the victims from the sunken car.

The survivor of the accident was rushed to a local hospital for immediate treatment. The case is being further investigated to identify the root cause of the accident.

The car was lifted out of the river with cranes, and the police had a tough time retrieving the bodies from the mangled car.

The locals, who were the first to rush to the spot after hearing the impact sound, immediately informed the police. The identities of the deceased were yet to be established.

In an earlier accident, at least three people were killed and eight others injured in a head-on collision between a tempo traveller and a truck on the Satara-Lonand route near Salpe village in Maharashtra during the intervening night of May 10 and 11. The truck was found to be speeding.

On May 9, in Maharashtra's Raigad district, four people were killed and 20 others injured in a road accident. The accident occurred on the Tala-Mandad road when a speeding dumpster hit a state transport bus. The injured were promptly moved to the nearest hospital. The state transport bus suffered massive damage in the accident.

/IANS