A Massachusetts family of four lost their lives in a tragic accident in Virginia while en route to a wedding, their vehicle filled with homemade desserts for the occasion.
The wedding, set to take place on Sunday in South Carolina, will proceed but will also serve as a time for family and friends to grieve the passing of Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev, along with their children, Emily and Mark, as revealed by a family member on Saturday.
“We’ve lost a son, a father, an entire family – all of whom were so precious to us,” shared Carolina Bublik.
The fatal accident occurred on Interstate 95 in Stafford County early Friday morning when a motorcoach, traveling through a construction zone, initiated a multi-vehicle crash, according to officials.
The bus collided with a Chevrolet Suburban, which then impacted an Acura carrying the Doncev family, authorities reported. Tragically, Priscilla Mafalda, 25, from Worcester, Massachusetts, who was a passenger in the Suburban, also perished in the incident.
More people were treated for injuries, including one who was in critical condition, though most were discharged, Mary Washington Healthcare said.
The bus driver, Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and additional charges were likely, Virginia State Police said. The prosecutor’s office in Stafford County said Dong was arrested and would be in custody while he is treated for his injuries at a hospital.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Dong’s first court appearance will not be scheduled until he is discharged but a magistrate approved holding him without bond until that time. It also said prosecutors saw enough probable cause to believe Dong was “driving in a criminally negligent manner.”
It was unclear whether Dong has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The case did not yet appear in the state’s online court records, and a call to the area’s public defender went unanswered at a closed office Saturday.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, a monthslong task separate from the work of state police. NTSB board member Tom Chapman revealed few new details but said the bus was moving at a high rate of speed.
“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.
The bus, which was taking people from New York to North Carolina, was operated by E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
Chapman said the driver’s language proficiency would be part of the NTSB investigation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, citing police, said on social media that Dong, a native of China, does not speak English.
Dmitri Doncev, 45, was a nurse who worked at Holyoke Medical Center. Ecaterina Doncev, 44, was a hairstylist who spent days making desserts for the family wedding, Bublik said.
They emigrated to the U.S. from Moldova in 2008 and settled in Greenfield, Massachusetts, she said.
Dmitri and brother Iuri tried to stay together while traveling in separate vehicles to South Carolina.
“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.”