The Pagoh fire station said firefighters responding to an emergency call at about 3.20pm found the car had plunged about 2m into Sungai Tui. There was no sign of the driver.

Tengku Nizaruddin’s younger brother, Tengku Abdul Aziz, 30, said they last met at about 2pm yesterday after travelling separately from Johor Bahru to Muar.

“We left Johor Bahru in separate vehicles. I went to a different place, while my brother told me he wanted to go to his friend’s workshop in Parit Jawa. “My family last heard from him at around 4pm, but after that, they couldn’t reach him,” he said.

He said the workshop owner told him and his sister-in-law that his brother never showed up.

“At first, we thought he was joking as usual, but started to get worried when we couldn’t reach him and the vehicle was found not far from where we last met,” he said.

Muar police said a search is under way.