Trio killed in Diwali BurgerFuel crash named

The three people killed in a horror Diwali crash in Auckland on Sunday night have now been named.

The newlywed couple and their brother-in-law died after the car they were in lost control at a roundabout on Great South Road, came off the road and tore through a Takanini BurgerFuel restaurant.

RNZ understands the vehicle is believed to have been travelling at more than 150 kilometres per hour.

Daljit Singh, spokesperson for the Supreme Sikh Society, said the bodies of the victims had been identified as Sukhdeep Singh, 33, his 29-year-old wife, Sukhvir Kaur, and brother-in-law Gurpreet Singh, 38.

Of the couple, husband Sukhdeep had lived in New Zealand for seven years, Daljit said, while wife Sukhvir had arrived six months ago.

Gurpreet had a young son and wife in India and had called Aotearoa home for three years. He worked as a courier driver for New Zealand Post.

Daljit said it was a "huge tragedy".

"They were actually celebrating Diwali at the Manurewa Gurudwara, where they were coming from when this incident was happened," he said, adding that the circumstances of the crash were unclear.

"I'm actually in regular touch with the police and we're talking to them almost every two or three hours, but so far, about the investigations, they haven't actually released any information because they still interviewing some other people as well ... we know that they've been to their employer ... but just waiting for their outcome."

It was hoped their bodies would be released by the coroner on Friday morning, Daljit said. Once that happened, they would be washed and a Sikh preacher would say prayers before they were sent back to India for cremation, as per the families' wishes.

He had also been in contact with the victims' families back in India. Gurpreet's brother was yet to break the news to his parents when Daljit last spoke to him on Thursday morning, but had agreed to do so before it broke via the media.

A Givealittle page in support of the victims' families had raised more than $13,000 within 11 hours of being set up, and Daljit said others were calling him to ask how they could contribute.

"There is so much generosity in the community," he said.

"It's not [just] Sikh communities, it's the wider communities, everbody is helping. There's a lot of calls we're receiving from politicians and local councillors, local boards and wider whanau, even our Māori iwi organising a prayer, to do the karakia on Monday."

Creator of the Givealittle page, Mandeep Singh Brar, said the victims' "sudden loss has left their families, friends and loved ones devastated".

"Your kindness, support and prayers mean more than words can express".

Emergency services were called to the crash just after 10:15pm on Sunday night.

All three occupants were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No one inside the building was injured.