The Doncev family was supposed to be celebrating this weekend. Instead, relatives are mourning their loss.
Dmitri Doncev, his wife, Ecaterina, and their children Emily and Mark, were traveling through the night from their home in Greenfield, Massachusetts, to South Carolina for a family member’s wedding.
But loved ones said all four were killed early Friday when a motor coach bus crashed into a vehicle, setting off a chain of collisions on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia.
“They were truly wonderful people,” Dmitri’s niece Carolina Bublik wrote in a text message to The Washington Post. She added that she was “very proud to say they were my family.”
A woman in another car was also killed, and dozens of people were injured in the crash, according to Virginia State Police. The bus’s driver was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, authorities announced Saturday.
Additional charges are pending against the driver, identified as Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, Virginia State Police said in a press release. Dong, who was injured in the crash, was served with felony arrest warrants while in the hospital, Stafford Commonwealth Attorney Eric Olsen said in a press release.
Each count of involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, Olsen said.
The bus, which was traveling from New York City to Charlotte and carrying about 34 people, crashed into several vehicles around 2:35 a.m. Friday before coming to rest on the side of the highway, Virginia State Police said. Authorities said traffic had been slowing in the area ahead of a work zone, but preliminary information indicates the bus failed to do so.
Tom Chapman, a board member for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is also investigating the crash, said it appears the bus was traveling 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 the severity of the collision,” Chapman said at a news conference Saturday.
State police said the driver of the bus, which was operated by North Carolina-based E&P Travel, first struck a Chevrolet Suburban. The Suburban then hit an Acura SUV and other vehicles.
Priscilla R. Mafalda, 36, from Worcester, Massachusetts, was in the Suburban and died, police said. Efforts to reach Mafalda’s family were unsuccessful on Saturday.
Virginia police said the Acura caught fire, and four people inside were killed. Authorities declined to release their names, citing a state law that prevents the direct or indirect identification of juvenile victims.
Carolina Bublik and Anatoliy Bublik, a family friend whose brother is Carolina’s husband, identified the family as the Doncevs. Dmitri, 45, worked as a nurse at Holyoke Medical Center. Ecaterina, 44, was a stay-at-home mom. Emily was 14 years old, and Mark was 7, according to Anatoliy Bublik.
Dmitri and Ecaterina immigrated from Moldova to the United States in 2008, and made Massachusetts their home, Anatoliy Bublik said. Dmitri was known for his “bright personality and generous spirit,” he wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses and to bring the family’s bodies home. Ecaterina, he wrote, will be remembered for her “creative mind, outgoing nature, and joyful presence.”
Emily liked to play the piano and was a good student, Anatoliy Bublik said. Mark loved to run around and play with toys,” he said. “And he was a hugger.”
The family was actively involved in the Greenfield Russian Baptist Church, attending services every Sunday, he said.
“They’re going to be missed, but we know that they’re in a better place,” Anatoliy Bublik said in an interview. “As for us, we grieve the loss.” He added, “It’s going to be very sad to see that their seats are going to be empty.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) expressed her condolences in a post on X, writing, “My heart breaks for the Doncev family, for the communities of Greenfield and Worcester, and for everyone impacted by this terrible tragedy.”
Forty-four other people were injured and taken to hospitals, state police said. Three of them suffered critical injuries, according to state police. Many of those injured have been released, hospital officials have said.
E&P Travel, which is based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and operates four buses, has faced three violations for speeding at least 15 mph over the limit during the past two years, federal records show.
In 2024, one of the company’s buses was involved in a crash in Lexington, North Carolina, in which it failed to slow down and struck another vehicle from behind, North Carolina State Highway Patrol records show. Nine people were injured in that crash, according to federal records.
Company officials did not respond to messages seeking comment on Friday.
An NTSB investigative team is expected to be on-site for five to seven days, with a preliminary report expected within 30 days. Investigators are looking into factors such as lighting conditions, weather, vehicle conditions, and whether the bus company is in compliance with state and federal regulations, said NTSB investigator in charge Eric Gregson.
Chapman said, “Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened, and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again.”
State and federal investigators are looking into the bus driver’s actions before the crash.
Chapman said investigators will look into the bus driver’s history, including his activities during the 72 hours leading up to the crash, looking at everything from potential sleep issues to possible drug or alcohol use.
On Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy wrote in a statement on X that the bus driver did not speak English. The Post has not been able to verify the claim, and the NTSB’s Chapman said Saturday that investigators were still assessing the driver’s language proficiency. “We don’t have enough information at this point to have drawn any conclusions,” he said.
Juan Benn Jr. and Steve Thompson contributed to this report.
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