A Massachusetts family of four who died when a bus triggered a multi-vehicle crash in Virginia, had been heading to a wedding with a car packed full of homemade treats for the celebration.
The family wedding is still set to proceed Sunday in South Carolina, but it will also serve as an occasion to grieve the loss of Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their two children, Emily, 14, and Mark, 7, a relative confirmed Saturday.
“A son, a father – the whole family – everyone that has been dear to us,” Carolina Bublik said. The Doncevs lost their lives when a motorcoach sparked a chain-reaction collision involving vehicles that had slowed for a work zone on Interstate 95 in Stafford County at around 2:35 a.m. Friday, according to authorities.
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Police stated the bus struck a Suburban, which then collided with an Acura carrying the Doncev family. Priscilla Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who was traveling in the Chevrolet SUV, also died in the crash.
Additional victims were treated for injuries, including one person in critical condition, though the majority were discharged, according to Mary Washington Healthcare. Bus driver Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, has been hit with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with further charges expected, Virginia State Police confirmed.
The family’s vehicle was hit during a chain-reaction collision caused by a bus -Credit:GoFundMe
The Stafford County prosecutor’s office announced that Dong had been taken into custody and would remain under arrest while receiving treatment for his injuries at a hospital. Prosecutors stated in a release that Dong’s initial court hearing will not be set until he leaves the hospital, but a magistrate authorized detaining him without bond in the meantime.
The statement also noted prosecutors found sufficient probable cause to conclude Dong was “driving in a criminally negligent manner.” It remained uncertain whether Dong has legal representation who could comment on his case.
The bus driver involved in the collision has been charged with manslaughter -Credit:Virginia State Police via AP
The matter had not yet surfaced in the state’s online court database, and a Saturday call to the local public defender’s office went unanswered at the closed location. The National Transportation Safety Board is examining the crash, a process lasting several months that is distinct from state police work. NTSB board member Tom Chapman disclosed limited new information but indicated the bus was traveling at a high 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 transporting passengers from New York to North Carolina, was run by E&P Travel Inc., headquartered in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
The family had been bringing desserts to the wedding -Credit:GoFundMe
Chapman noted the driver’s language skills would be included in the NTSB investigation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, referencing police sources, posted on social media that Dong, originally from China, does not speak English.
Dmitri Doncev, 45, worked as a nurse at Holyoke Medical Center. Ecaterina Doncev, 44, was a hairstylist who dedicated days to preparing desserts for the family wedding, Bublik said.
A 25-year-old woman in another vehicle was also killed -Credit:Virginia State Police via AP
The family relocated to the U.S. from Moldova in 2008, settling in Greenfield, Massachusetts, she noted. Dmitri and his brother Iuri attempted to travel together in separate vehicles heading 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.”
