Police say speed is definitely a factor in a devastating crash in North York that left three dead and two others seriously injured.

It happened near Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue at around 3:30 a.m.

According to police, an Acura collided with a Mercedes Benz in the area and continued southbound on Jane Street to Sheppard Avenue. The Acura, Const. Clint Stibbe said, ultimately lost control, struck another vehicle and hit a light standard.

A number of the occupants were ejected from the vehicle and three people— a 21-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 23-year-old man— were pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other men, believed to be in their mid-to-late 20s, were rushed to hospital. Stibbe said one of the men is believed to be in life-threatening condition while the other has serious injuries.

A fourth person was rushed to a trauma centre in critical condition and a fifth person suffered serious injuries, Stibbe said.

All five people injured in the crash were travelling in the Acura.

"We are attempting to determine who the driver of the vehicle was at the time of this collision," he told CP24 Sunday morning. 

"In the end, what we have here is three families that have now been devastated as a result of this loss."

Stibbe said police are also working to determine if alcohol is a factor in the crash.

"I think it is pretty evident, based on the totality of the damage to the vehicle, that speed is a factor without a doubt," he added. 

The area is closed to traffic as members of the Toronto Police Service's collision reconstruction unit probed the circumstances around the crash.

"The officers that are doing the reconstruction will be looking at that vehicle to make a determination as to how fast it was going at the time of the collision," Stibbe said. 

Witnesses are being asked to contact investigators with any information they may have.

Yuri Lopez, an area resident, told CP24 he heard a "horrible sound" at around 3 a.m. this morning and went to his balcony to see what happened.

"Right away the emergency vehicles (were) rushing in to the area," he said. 

"You look at the vehicle, the condition that it is in is, you can barely recognize (it)."