POLICE have just named the victims and issued a photo of the two of them together:

Somerset County Gazette:

THE heartbroken families and friends of two young Romanian men killed in a car crash are desperately trying to raise funds to repatriate their bodies.

Alex Pintea, 20, and Nicu Manea, 23, died at the scene after their car collided with another vehicle on the A38 at Whiteball, near Wellington, in the early hours of Sunday.

A passenger in the car driven by Mr Pintea, who lived in Wellington and was originally from Targu Neamt in the north of Romania, and the driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries in the incident just after midnight.

In a heartfelt statement, Mr Pintea's family said: "With hearts torn apart by pain and deep regret, we announce that our only son has died in a car accident in England.

"He had gone to make a better life for himself, but he couldn't fulfil his dreams.

"Rest in peace and watch over us from where you are. May God keep you in his care, dear child."

Both families have launched fundraising appeals to take the men's bodies home to their native country.

A childhood friend of Mr Manea, who is believed to have worked for 21 Sisters Food Group in Willand, came from Adjud, in eastern Romania, is auctioning a football shirt worn by international star Valerica Gaman.

Mihai Lungu said: "Unfortunately, I have received the terrible news that a good friend from my childhood lost his life in a tragic accident in England.

"His family is in Romania and does not have the necessary funds to repatriate his body, so, beside the financial support I can offer them, I want to auction the national team shirt worn last year by Gaman.

"The money will go to the hard-hit family."

Avon and Somerset Police confirmed officers are still investigating the crash and have appealed for witnesses to contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 101 using reference number 148/17.

A force spokesman said: "Our investigation unit is unable to confirm IDs at this stage.

"The men are both Romanian nationals and we are working with the embassy to identify and inform all next of kin through them."

Retired policeman Eric Lamb, who lives beside the A38 at Whiteball, said: "I was getting ready to go to sleep (at the time of the accident) and became aware of a flashing blue light outside and knew it was something serious.

"The police were turning everyone around."

Mark Windsor, who runs a business on the opposite side of the road, said: "It's a fast stretch of road and can be a bit of a nightmare at times when I need to move out and cross the road.

"It's not the first accident on the A38 around here - one of my customers pulled out and his view was obscured by trees and bushes and he crashed into a wall across the road after a vehicle crashed into the side of him.

"A number of years ago someone hit a tree and died.

"There was a big accident a couple of months ago and a woman was badly injured.

"The road is lethal."