Hundreds of mourners have turned out for the joint funeral of three Auckland teenagers who died in a car crash near Hamilton last week.

Best mates and ex-Rosehill College students Alan Ross Wiremu Jones, 18, Liam Douglas Jackson, 18, and Ashley Foley, 19, were killed about 5am last Friday when the car they were in hit the only tree on a stretch of Gordonton Rd, northeast of Hamilton.

The parents of the sole survivor, 19-year-old Jaryd Doughty, are believed to have spoken at the Papakura funeral on behalf of their son, who is still in intensive care in Waikato Hospital.

Media were banned from attending the funeral and were ushered from the school grounds as it started.

Cars in the streets surrounding Rosehill College were filled with black and yellow helium balloons, the colours of the Bombay Rugby Football Club where two of the teenagers played in the under-21 team.

Police said earlier the car the teenagers were travelling in smelt of alcohol and was littered with empty bottles.

Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman believed the crash was "totally avoidable".

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- © Fairfax NZ News