A truck driver and other members of the public were unable to revive a woman after she lost control of her car and went into a river in Northland today.
The 53-year-old woman's car went into the Ngunguru River at Scows Landing, about 20km north east of Whangarei.
Police said passing motorists leapt into the river in an effort to drag the woman from her car but could not get her out.
A truck driver with a hoist then pulled the car from the water. The woman was removed and rescuers tried to resuscitate her but she died at the scene.
Sergeant John Fagan, from the Whangarei police, said the efforts of the truck driver and the members of the public were commendable.
The woman's name would not be released until her family members had been told, he said.
The road to Ngunguru near Scows Landing is winding and narrow and much of it is beside the river.
