Three persons, including two tourists from Jaipur in Rajasthan, went missing when the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into the swollen Teesta river near Coronation Bridge at Sevoke, around 30 km away from Siliguri on Thursday.

It is learnt that a search operation is on to trace them.

Sources informed that the tourists were headed for Sikkim from Siliguri when the driver lost control and the vehicle fell into the river.

"The tourists had hired the Innova car from a travel agency in Siliguri. Some drivers who witnessed the accident said the incident happened at around 1.45 pm and that they informed the police, which called the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and rafters from Teesta," the sources added.

It may be mentioned here that police, NDRF, disaster management personnel, fire brigade personnel, and rafters have been conducting a search operation in the river.