BUFFALO, N.Y. — The search for the two men inside a van that crashed into the Niagara River has turned into a recovery mission, according to Buffalo police.

Police say a white or silver Dodge Caravan drove through a guardrail and into the river at the foot of Ferry Street in Broderick Park just after 7 a.m. Tuesday. The vehicle appeared to have a dent below the bottom of the front passenger side door.

What led the driver to go through the railing is not yet known.

Buffalo police, the Erie County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Coast Guard searched the water for hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Witnesses say with the fast-flowing water, there was nothing that could be done.

"I heard a cry for help, and about 20 feet off the point right there, I saw a guy floating on his back, coming right down here and after 30 seconds, he went under right there and he was gone,” said witness Bryan Speckard.

Speckard says he wishes there was something he could’ve done, but life rings that used to be there were removed a while ago.

He asks the city to consider putting something back in so if this happens again, people on shore won’t be so helpless.

“There's got to be something, maybe like lifeguard poles or something, that they can be put down here, because it's happened too much. I've seen boats run out of gas right off here," he recalled. "We could help people if we had more tools down here.”

The City of Buffalo did not immediately return a request for comment regarding safety equipment along the water.

Anyone with information on the vehicle or two men is asked to call Buffalo police immediately.