A devastating crash claimed the lives of five students travelling from Montreal to Brampton and one friend is trying to help the family left behind.

On Saturday, March 12 a passenger van collided with a tractor trailer on Hwy. 401 near Belleville around 3:45 a.m., according to OPP.

Five people, all students from India studying in the GTA and Montreal, were killed in the crash. Harpreet Singh, 24, Jaspinder Singh, 21, Karanpal Singh, 22, Mohit Chouhan, 23, and Pawan Kumar, 23, died. Two other students were seriously injured.

Eight people were in the van, according to Raman Lamba who started a GoFundMe for his friend, Kumar.

OPP has since said the van was stopped in a live lane on the highway and one person got out of the vehicle, according to CTV News. It is not known why the van was stopped.

The driver of the tractor trailer and the person who got out of the van were not hurt. The investigation into the crash is continuing, and no charges have been laid, according to CBC.

Lamba said Kumar and his friends were returning from Montreal to Brampton. Lamba started the fundraiser to support Kumar's family in India.

Raman Lamba started a GoFundMe to help his friend's family in India.

"We need to send the body back to India so that his parents can see him [for the] last time and perform the last rites," Lamba wrote.

Kumar moved to Canada from Lilas, a village of 2,600 in the state of Haryana, two years ago.

Sadly Kumar's family learned of his death through an Instagram post, a cousin told CTV News. Kumar was the youngest of five siblings and known to be very sweet. His father died of COVID-19 last year.

As of March 16, nearly 1,000 people had donated to the GoFundMe. More than $45,000 of the $75,000 goal had been raised.