Fatal Northland crash victim named

File photo / Martin Sykes

Police have named the woman who died when she lost control of her car and went into a river in Northland yesterday.

She was Raewyn Ann Thomson, 53, of Tutukaka, 30km northeast of Whangarei.

Her 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.

The road to Ngunguru near Scows Landing is winding and narrow and much of it is beside the river.

- NZPA