THE widow of one of the two men killed in a motorway horror smash has paid tribute to her husband.

Ion Calin, 42, was a passenger in a Ford Mondeo being driven by Marian Olteanu, 35, when it was involved in a collision with three lorries on the M271 southbound carriageway.

A father-of-two, Ion had been working the building trade before he closed down his business Calin Drywall a few months ago.

He had come from the town of Galati, in eastern Romania with his family, several years ago.

It is understood that Marian was a colleague of Ion’s and had come to this country from the town of Barlad, also in eastern Romania.

His wife, Veronica, said: “He was a really good father and a good husband and a good friend. He will be missed.”

The men, who both lived in Shirley, died after the collision on Tuesday at 5.15pm between junction three with the M27 and the A33 Redbridge Roundabout.

Two others were taken to Southampton General Hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

The collision caused the entire motorway to be shut for part of Tuesday night and all southbound lanes remained closed through much of Wednesday.

One rescue worker, who did not wish to be named, described the scene as “total carnage”.

All emergency services attended the scene including firefighters from as far as Cosham, with two ambulances rushed the injured lorry drivers to hospital.

Police left the scene at 4.15am but the road remained closed for repairs for most of Wednesday as only one lane of the southbound carriageway was open up to junction one at which point vehicles were diverted off the motorway which was not fully reopened until just before 4pm.

A spokesman for Hampshire police said that an investigation is still ongoing and added that no arrests had been made.

Officers are asking for any who saw the vehicles before the collision, or the incident itself to get in touch.

Sergeant Gabriel Snuggs, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, has previously said: “Our investigation into the exact cause of the crash is ongoing and as part of that we are appealing to the public for their help.

“The collision happened during the evening rush hour so we know there were a lot of other motorists around who may have seen something that can assist us with this investigation.

"We would urge any of those to come forward and speak to our team.

"We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who has a dashboard camera that was in the area at the time, as we would like to look at that footage.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 101, quoting 44150417941.