A passenger bus traveling from New York to North Carolina collided with multiple vehicles on southbound Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, early Friday morning.
The crash killed five individuals and injured 44 others.
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The Virginia State Police reported that the crash occurred around 2:35 a. m.
near a highway work zone. The bus operator failed to decelerate, striking an SUV and triggering a chain-reaction collision involving six cars.
The deceased victims include a family of four from Greenfield, Massachusetts—Dmitri Doncev, 45, Ecaterina Doncev, 44, Emily Doncev, 13, and Mark Doncev, 7—along with an unidentified 25-year-old female driver from Worcester, Massachusetts.
Federal transit officials, state investigators, and survivors have begun reviewing the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident and the history of the operating transit company.
"It was horrible. It was just like blood everywhere, it was people holding their heads.
Their heads were bleeding," said Wayne Tobin, a passenger who survived the crash.
Tobin noted that he had been sleeping during the journey before being abruptly awakened by the force of the collision.
"I'm just so happy that I'm alive, but I just want to get home," said Tobin, who was traveling to Raleigh for his mother's funeral.
Other passengers reported that bystanders stopped to assist survivors trapped inside the smoking vehicle. "A stranger came and busted the window open and let us all out.
I'm thankful for that, we here. A lot of people lost their lives, I'm sorry to their loved ones.
It's sad. It was a sad occasion," said another unnamed survivor.
The vehicle was operated by Kings Mountain, North Carolina-based E&P Travel Inc., which federal data shows has faced previous language compliance citations.
"Unacceptable.
This is exactly why we are holding states’ accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English," wrote Sean Duffy, U.
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S. Transportation Secretary.
Duffy emphasized that the driver, identified as 48-year-old Jing S.
Dong of Staten Island, New York, is a naturalized citizen who received his commercial license two years ago but does not speak English.
"If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus," wrote Duffy.
The Transportation Department is currently analyzing New York licensing records, training logs, and company compliance files. "New York licensing records, training documentation, and the driver's history.
Any company, trainer, or school that contributed to putting an unqualified driver on the road will face intense scrutiny," added Duffy.
On-site federal representatives noted that the severity of the highway scene was unusual.
"I’ve got to say, this is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen," said Peyton Vogel, a Federal Transit Administration spokesperson.
Vogel described the visual scene of crumpled, burned vehicles on the roadside as absolutely tragic.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced that a comprehensive investigation will examine all environmental and operational factors.
"We’re not looking for liability or fault," said Sarah Sulick, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson.
Sulick stated that the final analysis could take up to two years to compile.
"We’re really looking at the kind of larger picture of safety and what improvements we can recommend to either regulatory agencies, or local, state, or federal entities on how to increase safety," said Sulick.
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The NTSB will host a livestreamed press briefing regarding the crash investigation on Saturday afternoon.
