A YOUNG woman has died from her injuries after she was caught in a massive pile-up on the M5.

The 21-year-old was one of seven people injured in the eight-car crash, which happened near Cullompton.

The woman has been named by police as Russian national Oxsana Tukova, who was on holiday in the UK.

She was critically injured in the crash and had been receiving treatment at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, when she passed away on Tuesday.

It is not yet known whether Ms Tukova was driving the vehicle or was a passenger.

The woman's family has been informed of her death.

The accident, which happened at about 9pm on Thursday, August 26, two miles south of Junction 28, left a one-year-old baby in a critical condition. The child is still understood to be in hospital.

Police are investigating the collision, the cause of which is not yet known.

Officers have appealed for witnesses to the incident to come forward.

In particular, they want to trace the driver of a lorry who may be able to help with inquiries.

The HGV is described as having a blue cab and silver trailer.

It is thought the lorry may have made contact with one or more of the vehicles involved in the collision.

As previously reported in the Echo, motorists were stuck on the motorway for several hours after the northbound carriageway was closed for 11 hours.

An emergency refuge centre was set up two miles away at Culm Valley Sports Centre in Cullompton.

Most drivers were eventually able to leave the motorway after being turned around and escorted from the area by police via a slip road.

Firefighters used power cutters to release five people who were trapped in their vehicles.

Witness Nick Miles said: "I arrived just as the initial collisions happened and I parked on the hard shoulder.

"Cars were late braking and then there was one last major collision and a big bang as a car couldn't get out of the way in time.

"It was pitch-black, chaotic and very frightening in those first 10 minutes."

A spokesman for Devon & Cornwall Police told the Echo: "On Tuesday, a 21-year-old Russian national died at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, of the injuries that she sustained in the road traffic collision which occurred on the M5 on Thursday, August 26."

Any witnesses or anyone who has information about the identity of the lorry driver is asked to call police on 08452 777444 quoting log 1090 of August 26.