Two young men are dead after an allegedly stolen car, which was being pursued by police in Melbourne's north, collided with a truck.

Key points: The incident is linked to an earlier burglary in Melbourne's western suburbs

The incident is linked to an earlier burglary in Melbourne's western suburbs A black Kluger was tracked from Tullamarine to Preston where police initiated a pursuit

A black Kluger was tracked from Tullamarine to Preston where police initiated a pursuit Police said it was lucky that more people were not killed in the incident

Police said the incident crossed four suburbs, from St Albans, to Sunshine, Tullamarine, the Western Ring Road and Preston, where the car crashed.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said the incident was believed to be linked to a burglary in St Albans in which two cars were stolen about 7:30pm last night.

One of the cars was later dumped at a hotel car park at Sunshine and police believe people from that car drove off in a third car, a black Kluger.

Emergency crews worked to remove a shipping container that fell off the truck in the crash. ( AAP: David Crosling )

It was later seen being driven erratically and police followed it to Tullamarine, where a man and woman were arrested and a third person fled the scene.

The man and woman did not cooperate with investigators and have been released.

Two people drove off in the black car to evade police.

The police helicopter was called in to track the offenders as officers used stop sticks to try to intercept the car near the approach to the Western Ring Road.

"The deployment of those stop sticks was effective in the sense that it deflated the two passenger-side wheels of that vehicle, however that vehicle kept going and started to engage in serious erratic and high risk driving," Assistant Commissioner Cornelius said.

He said when the suspects tried to carjack another vehicle in Preston, officers pursued the car for "a matter of minutes" before it crashed into a truck at the intersection of Bell St.

"They [officers] observed the Kluger … accelerate away from us and shortly after we believe the collision occurred," he said.

Police said there had been a brief pursuit before the crash. ( ABC News )

The truck rolled and a shipping container came off the back and crushed another vehicle at the intersection.

Acting Commissioner Cornelius said the truck driver and a man in an Audi, which was crushed, were taken to hospital but were largely unharmed.

He said the dead men had not been identified, partly because of the severity of the crash.

Assistant Commissioner Cornelius defended the police decision to pursue the vehicle.

"We will not stand by and watch serious high-end offending which has a terrible impact on our community," he said.

"Where we take the view that it is safe to intervene and stop these criminals we will do so."

Investigators want to speak to the victims of the attempted carjacking and anyone who may have dashcam footage from the Preston area at the time.

They are also trying to locate one of the two cars stolen from St Albans, a VW Golf, registration 1CX 9XZ.

Victoria Police's Professional Standards Command will investigate the incident, as per standard procedure.