MISSOURI CITY – A woman died on Tuesday after driving into a Missouri City lake.
Investigators believe fog may have played a role in the crash that claimed the life of 36-year-old Sugar Land resident Aisee Mwembo.
Deputies Blake Bondzinski and Johnathan Sanchez, who helped pull Mwembo to safety, said 15 minutes elapsed from the time they arrived on scene to the time they got her out of the water, and that the water was so cold they couldn’t initially catch their breath and thought their hearts were about to stop beating.
The water was 8-feet deep and the skies were pitch black with fog, hampering visibility, deputies said.
“I think even your hand being one inch in the water, it was completely invisible,” Bondzinski said. “So I had no visibility.”
Missouri City firefighters found the submerged car 10 minutes into their search, and Mwembo was pulled out after the back passenger side window was smashed.
“There was like seven or eight of us holding onto her,” Bondzinski said. “Everyone was wet, tired, just pulling her up.”
Bondzinski and Sanchez brought Mwembo back to shore, where paramedics were waiting.
Mwembo was unconscious when pulled out and later died at a hospital.
“When we saw her come out of the water, it was a relief,” Sanchez said. “I was just hoping, I know, she was underwater for quite some time, that she would be OK.”
READ: Woman dies after driving into Missouri City neighborhood lake, deputies say