Three family members, including a newlywed couple and their brother-in-law, died on 9 November 2026 when their car crashed into a BurgerFuel restaurant in Takanini, South Auckland. The victims all resided in South Auckland.
The crash happened around 10:15 pm on Great South Road after the vehicle lost control at a roundabout. Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, which saw the vehicle leave the road and collide with the building. Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman said that initial information from police suggested the car became airborne before the collision.
The victims were identified by family and community representatives as 38-year-old Gurpreet Singh, 29-year-old Sukhvir Kaur, and her 33-year-old husband, Sukhdeep Singh. The restaurant itself was closed at the time of the impact, and no one inside the building sustained injuries.
“It’s a huge tragedy for the community,” said Singh.
“He was well-settled, came to New Zealand a few years back. But his wife just came six months ago,” Singh said.
Friends of the family grew concerned when the driver did not show up for work on the morning following the crash. According to Singh, the victims lacked immediate family members living in New Zealand, but they shared connections with a wider network of friends who were left in tears.
“They don’t have family here in New Zealand, but they have a wider family of friends,” Singh said.
“The communities are in great shock because this is a huge tragedy that happened here in Auckland,” Singh told the NZ Herald.
“It’s a very tight community. People know immediately where they came from, who they are,” Singh said.
Singh explained that overseas relatives are waiting for the return of their loved ones so they can carry out traditional rituals in their home country. For one of the victims, family members were deliberately withholding the news from his parents to prevent severe distress until repatriation details could be confirmed.
“They are in great shock,” Singh said.
“They’re asking so many questions which we don’t have an answer to at this stage,” Singh said.
A karakia was scheduled to be held at the crash site on Monday morning by local iwi and the Sikh community. Police confirmed that formal identification processes were still underway and that the road, which was temporarily closed while emergency services worked at the scene, has since reopened while inquiries continue.