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A Massachusetts family of four tragically lost their lives in a devastating bus collision in Virginia while en route to a family wedding, their vehicle laden with homemade desserts intended for the celebration.
Despite the heartbreaking loss of Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their children, Emily and Mark, the wedding, set for Sunday in South Carolina, will proceed. The ceremony will serve not only as a celebration but also as a somber occasion to honor and remember the family’s cherished members, according to a relative, Carolina Bublik.
“A son, a father — the whole family — everyone that has been dear to us,” Bublik expressed, highlighting the profound impact of their sudden passing.
The fatal accident occurred on Interstate 95 in Stafford County at approximately 2:35 a.m. on Friday. As reported by authorities, a motorcoach initiated a chain-reaction crash with several vehicles that had decelerated for a work zone.
The bus slammed into a Chevrolet Suburban, which subsequently collided with an Acura carrying the Doncev family. Additionally, Priscilla Mafalda, a 25-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, was in the Suburban and also lost her life in the tragic 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.”