KAHAKULOA, Maui — A man was killed yesterday when his rental car went off a 300-foot cliff along the rugged coast between Kahakuloa and Hono-kohau.

Investigators have not identified the man or determined how the accident happened, said Sgt. Stacey Yamashita of the Maui Police Department. The driver of the 2005 Chrysler Sebring convertible is believed to have been a visitor, he said.

Witnesses reported around 10:25 a.m. that a car had plunged over the cliff front-end first and burst into flames upon hitting the rocks below, Yamashita said. The accident happened along the winding, two-lane Kahekili Highway at an unpaved turnout with no guard rails.

The vehicle landed upside-down at the ocean's edge and was almost burned beyond recognition, said Fire Battalion Chief Frank Tam. The Maui Fire Department's helicopter dropped a recovery crew at the scene, and firefighters used power tools to cut the vehicle open and retrieve the badly burned body, Tam said.

The helicopter carried the body up to the roadside, where a medical examiner's vehicle was waiting to transport the remains to Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku for an autopsy.

There have been five traffic fatalities in Maui County this year compared to two a year ago.