A GWENT man died and eight other people were injured in horrific motorway crash yesterday.

Howard Ieuan Harris, 39, from Pontypool, died after suffering serious injuries in the crash on the M4 between Cardiff and Llantrisant involving two lorries and four cars. The westbound carriageway of the motorway between junctions 33 and 34 was closed for more than four hours following the accident at about 5.25am.

It is believed Mr Harris had been an Ebbw Vale steelworker who was more recently working at the Corus plant in Port Talbot.

South Wales Police said the collision happened in traffic that had built up following an accident involving a stolen car which happened about an hour before.

They say during that incident, a stolen red Vauxhall Cavalier collided with the central reservation at around 4.20am, and the occupant or occupants fled.

Officers say they had to close the motorway to allow the drivers of a van and a lorry, which had also collided because of the Cavalier, to move their vehicles.

And debris and stone chippings strewn across the carriageway because of that incident also had to be removed.

An hour after the initial crash, two lorries and Mr Harris' Ford Mondeo, a Peugeot, a Renault Clio and a Ford Focus were involved in a collision near the tailbacks that had built up on the carriageway.

The two lorry drivers, the male drivers of the Peugeot and the Focus, and a man and three women travelling in the Clio, were all treated in hospital for their injuries and discharged.

Police are still trying to identify and trace the driver of the stolen car and anyone with information is asked to contact South Wales Police on 01656 655555.