Bus crash on Virginia highway kills Massachusetts family of four heading to wedding
A family of four from Massachusetts died after a motorcoach caused a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 95 in Virginia. The bus driver faces involuntary manslaughter charges.
Family of four among five dead after I-95 bus crash in Stafford County
A family of four from Greenfield, Massachusetts, was killed in the early hours of Friday when a motorcoach struck multiple vehicles on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, according to apnews.com. The crash happened around 2:35 a.m. near Quantico, in a lane that had slowed for a work zone.
Dmitri Doncev, 45, his wife Ecaterina Doncev, 44, and their two children, Emily and Mark, were travelling to a family wedding in South Carolina. The car they were in was loaded with homemade desserts that Ecaterina had spent days preparing for the celebration.
A relative, Carolina Bublik, described the moment the family realised something had gone wrong. Dmitri's brother Iuri had been travelling separately in another vehicle and arrived at the destination without him.
"At some point they ended up getting separated," Bublik said. "Dmitri said, 'You go ahead. I'll catch up later.' It was a big shock when Iuri arrived at the house. Dmitri should have arrived around the same time. When his car did not show up, and he wasn't picking up the phone — that's when the family started panicking."
A fifth person, Priscilla Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, also died. She was in a Chevrolet Suburban that the bus struck first. That impact pushed the Suburban into the Acura carrying the Doncev family. Several other people were injured; one remained in critical condition, though most were discharged, Mary Washington Healthcare said.
The bus was operated by E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and was transporting passengers from New York to North Carolina. The driver, Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Virginia State Police said additional charges were likely. It was not immediately known whether Dong was in custody or had legal representation.
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting a separate, months-long investigation. NTSB board member Tom Chapman said the bus was travelling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact.
"It seems fairly clear that if there was any braking there wasn't much, because of the speed and severity of the collision," Chapman said.
Chapman added that the driver's language proficiency would form part of the NTSB inquiry. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on social media, citing police, that Dong — a native of China — does not speak English.
Dmitri Doncev worked as a nurse at Holyoke Medical Center. Ecaterina was a hairstylist. The couple had emigrated from Moldova to the United States in 2008 and built their lives in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
"A son, a father — the whole family — everyone that has been dear to us," Bublik said.
The family wedding proceeded as planned on Sunday in South Carolina, but also served as a moment of mourning for those who did not arrive.
Source: Google News MT