Neighbour heard 'intense' bang like 'fireworks' before Mt Roskill death

A neighbour says she heard an 'intense' noise like fireworks just before police arrived at an alleged homicide scene in Auckland's Mt Roskill on Friday morning. 

Police were called to May Rd just after 7:30am, where they found a woman with critical injuries.

Despite the best efforts of police the woman passed away, and a homicide investigation was launched soon after.

Jannelle Haig, who has lived in the area her whole life, told Newshub she was shocked to hear the news.

"We thought it was someone letting off fireworks, but it was quite intense," Haig said.

"We heard the sirens going so we thought there was a big car accident on May Rd. It wasn't until we came over here that we knew that it wasn't just an accident - something else had happened."

A man who was located nearby has been arrested and was helping police with their enquiries, said Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Armstrong.

Police are currently undertaking a scene examination and expect to be in the area for quite some time.