Timaru's tight-knit community has been left deeply shaken by the horror car crash on the weekend

Five teenagers were killed when a Nissan Bluebird sedan they were travelling in struck a power pole.

Their families are struggling to come to terms with the crash as they plan the boy's funerals.

Herald reporter Kurt Bayer has been in Timaru, and says the supermarket chat is about nothing else.

He says one first responder told him he'd to tell others to be careful about what they are saying in public - as they don't know who may overhear them.