The body of a man has been found near a submerged car that plunged into the Manawatu River on Saturday morning.
The vehicle crashed through a roadside barrier in the Manawatu Gorge at about 7.30am. Police say two witnesses tried to help but the car was completely submerged by the time they got down the bank.
They say divers who checked the vehicle found no one inside but, after a further search, a man's body was found about 20 metres downstream from the car at about 6pm.
The gorge road was closed while police recovered the vehicle, which was registered to a Wellington man. It is now open again.
