Skid marks are clearly visible at the scene of the crash.

A witness chased a man down the road after the car he was driving crashed into a group of pedestrians in Auckland in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police investigating the crash said the driver of the car lost control on a corner, crashing into a vehicle parked on a property.

Some of the crash victims were in the stationary vehicle, while others were in the process of getting into it, when they were struck by the car.

JASON DORDAY/Stuff.co.nz An early morning Car crash on Dominion Rd Papakura shocks residents

The car's driver was accompanied by one other man.

Police said the offending vehicle was not thought to be stolen.

All five people on the roadside were injured, two of them seriously, while two people from the vehicle were also injured.

Three of the crash victims were taken to Middlemore Hospital, a spokeswoman said.

At 11am on Saturday, one was in intensive care and to be transferred to Auckland City Hospital.



Another was in surgery. The third victim was in a stable condition.

Witnesses said a "really big party" had been held at the house where the crash happened, and the car involved had been at the scene earlier in the evening.

Peter Barrett said he was sitting in his front room and happened to be looking out the window when he saw the car plough into a group of people sitting outside the neighbouring house.

He went outside to have a look, and saw the driver jump out of the car and start to run down the street.

Barrett took off after the man, who he described as being in his 20s, and chased him down the road "for 50 metres or so".

The chase was cut short when the driver collapsed to the ground.

"He was pretty bloodied up," Barrett said

Barrett said the injuries that the people sustained were "traumatising" to see.

Police turned up about 10 to 15 minutes later, and Barrett flagged them down to where the man was lying.

All of the injured were taken to hospital by ambulance.

Tassie Houkamau who lives near the home where the accident happened said it was "a really big party that ended in tragedy".

"It's a bit of a shame what happened. They were having a really big party last night and it looks like they had some argument and it escalated," he said.

Houkamau said the car, an 80s Mazda, which ploughed into the partygoers had been at the address earlier in the evening.

"It looks like [the driver] took off in the car and came back," he said.

"It looks like the Mazda lost control and ploughed into the side of a van and came to a rest. It looks like he aimed straight for them."

Houkamau said he saw one man in his early 20s pinned underneath a van, and another was was covered in blood and pinned against the fence at the property.

A neighbour who asked not to be named said the house where the crash happened had been loud with music and yelling up until the crash, when everything went quiet.

She said the group drinking and partying outside the house looked to be in their 20s.

Parties were a regular occurrence at the weekends, and they didn't often happen without a dispute breaking out.

"When they party we can often hear fighting."

A local business owner who asked not to be named said the accident took down a power pole.

"I left around 6.00am and the road was closed - I had to loop around to get to work."

He said he could see servicemen disconnecting the powerlines.

The road had reopened by around 7.30am.

A police spokeswoman said more information would be released later on Saturday morning.