Man, 39, who died in horror M5 crash pictured as heartbroken family pays tribute

The heartbroken family of an M5 crash victim has paid tributeto the "wonderful gentleman" as he was named and pictured for the first time.

Mihai Florescu, 39, from Plymouth, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene of a four-vehicle collision on September 18 as he was driving through Devon. Now, his heartbroken family have paid tribute after he was killed in a horror four-vehicle crash.

Paying tribute, his devastated wife Laura, said: "There are few words to express the deep pain and sorrow of losing Mihai Florescu, a loving husband, son, brother and friend who has been taken from us far too soon. The world has lost a truly wonderful gentleman and we have lost our world."

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Emergency services raced to the scene of the crash last month to find that four vehicles - a Volkswagen Transporter, a Land Rover Discovery, a Kia Creed and Mihai's car, a Toyota Prius - had collided. A man in his 40s, who was driving the Transporter, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

He has since been released under investigation as police continue their enquiries. Another four people were rushed to hospital and the M5 which was closed in both directions, sparking severe disruption and major delays.

Earlier that evening, at around 9.50pm, a seperate three-vehicle collision near Junction 28 left one driver in his 60s seriously injured. National Highways sent specialist contractors to cut part of the central reservation barrier on the motorway.

Devon and Cornwall Police said at the time: "Road closures remain in place this morning following two serious multi-vehicle collisions on the M5 southbound. The collisions between junctions 27 and 28 were reported to us at around 9.50pm and 11.10pm last night, Thursday 18 September.

"A number of people have been seriously injured and the closures are likely to remain in place for at least another two hours. We thank drivers for their patience while recovery and investigation work is carried out."

Superintendent for roads policing Joe Mathews added: "Our thoughts are with all those injured in these collisions and with the family and friends of the man who died. These incidents resulted in two challenging scenes and members of the public held within tailbacks and traffic for several hours."

He said the emergency services "worked tirelessly to undertake two complex investigations alongside assisting people held at the scene".