Hundreds of people are attending a vigil for five people involved in a crash at the weekend.

Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21 and Rafel Jeanne, 24, died after the crash in Cardiff and Shane Loughlin, 32, and Sophie Russon, 20, remain in hospital in a critical condition.

All five had been on a night out in Newport when the car is believed to have veered off the A48 into trees.

Friends and family gathered at the scene in St Mellons on Tuesday.

Part of the A48 has been closed to allow the crowds, with many people carrying balloons, to congregate.

Luke Thole, a close friend of Mr Jeanne, was one of the organisers of the vigil.

He said he is “lost for words” over the loss of a his friend who was “like a brother”.

He added: “I’m glad of the turn out, a lot of people here which obviously Rafel would love.

“It’s very big for Cardiff and Newport to be honest with you, they’re well known people. And like I said, Rafel loves all this type of stuff so he’d be happy up there seeing all what’s gone on for him.”

He said that he wished friends and family had known the location of the car much sooner – the crash is believed to have taken place in the early hours of Saturday, with it found just after midnight on Monday.

“[We] could’ve potentially saved him maybe, ’cause they was there for 48 hours. To be honest I am lost for words and it’s hit a lot of people,” he said.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct will investigate police actions following missing person reports after the crash, it has confirmed.

At the scene, a minute’s silence was being held, while people stood holding hands in tears and hugging each other.

Cheers and calls of “fly high” could be heard as people let go of balloons and set off fireworks, and the air was thick with pink and blue flares.

The women, from Newport, had gone to The Muffler club in the Maesglas area of the city late on Friday.

They then travelled 36 miles (58km) to Trecco Bay, a caravan park in the seaside resort of Porthcawl, Bridgend county, with the two men, both from Cardiff.

A Snapchat photo shared by Ms Ross’ sister showed her and Mr Jeanne together on the night they went missing.

The group was last seen in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, in the early hours of Saturday, but it is not yet clear when the crash happened.

South Wales Police and Gwent Police believe only one car was involved in the crash and confirmed the collision occurred during the early hours of Saturday.

The exact time will be confirmed by an investigation.

However, Ms Russon’s mum Anna Certowicz said police “didn’t seem to think it was worth investigating” at the start.

She criticised the police response, saying they could have been found sooner if the police had started investigating straight away.

The forces said they could not comment while an investigation was pending.

They confirmed a first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 19:34 GMT on Saturday, with further missing person reports made at 19:43 and 21:32.

A further missing person report was made to South Wales Police at 17:37 GMT on Sunday.

The police helicopter was requested at 23:50 GMT on Sunday to search an area of Cardiff, after which the Volkswagen was found, they said.

Matthew Pace, 45, and his son Lewis, 26, told Sky News that they found the car in a wooded area along the A48 just after midnight on Monday morning.

Matthew Pace said a police officer arrived soon after and another office subsequently got the helicopter to search the area. The force then confirmed the vehicle had been found, he said.