Jing S. Dong has been charged with manslaughter, with additional charges pending, following the incident in Stafford County on Friday, May 29
Credit: Virginia State Police via AP
NEED TO KNOW
- Bus driver Jing S. Dong has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with additional charges, pending following a fatal crash in Virginia on Friday, May 29
- A family of four traveling to a wedding and another woman were among the five people killed in the collision
- The NTSB is investigating factors, including the driver’s actions, leading up to the fatal incident
The driver of a bus involved in a multi-vehicle crash in Virginia that killed five people is facing multiple charges.
Just after 2:30 a.m. local time on Friday, May 29, a bus “failed to slow for traffic” on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, striking six other vehicles, Virginia State Police (VSP) said in a news release previously obtained by PEOPLE. The five people killed in the crash were in cars hit by the bus, while at least 34 others were hospitalized following the incident.
Jing S. Dong, who was allegedly driving the bus at the time, also suffered injuries from the crash. He was arrested on Saturday by the Virginia State Police and served with felony warrants in the hospital, the BBC reported, citing Virginia prosecutor Eric Olsen.
According to the outlet, Olsen said there is enough evidence to suggest that Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was driving in a “criminally negligent manner” at the time of the crash.
Credit: Virginia State Police via AP
Dong has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with additional charges pending, according to CBS News, ABC7 and the BBC. Each count of involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
It is currently unknown whether Dong has acquired a lawyer, per the outlets.
The crash — described as having occurred “at a high rate of speed” in a work zone, per the BBC — is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The driver's language proficiency is among the factors being considered following claims on social media that Dong, a native of China, does not speak English, per ABC7.
Dong was transporting people from New York to North Carolina on a bus allegedly operated by E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, according to ABC7.
"It seems fairly clear that if there was any braking, there wasn't much, because of the speed and the severity of the collision," said NTSB member Tom Chapman per CBS News, adding that it was still "too early yet to know exactly what was happening on board the vehicle."
PEOPLE has been unable to contact E&P Travel, Inc. for additional comment at this time.
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Credit: Virginia State Police via AP
At least five people have died as a result of the “chain reaction crash,” the BBC reported, citing Olsen.
Among them is a family of four from Greenfield, Massachusetts, who were on their way to a wedding in South Carolina. According to CBS News, they have been identified as Dmitri Doncev, his wife Ecaterina, their daughter Emily and son Mark.
Dmitri, 45, a nurse who worked at Holyoke Medical Center, and Ecaterina, 44, a hairstylist who spent days making desserts for the family wedding, settled in Greenfield after emigrating to the U.S. from Moldova in 2008, per ABC7.
Dmitri and brother Iuri had initially planned to stay together while traveling in separate vehicles to South Carolina for the wedding scheduled for Sunday.
"At some point they ended up getting separated," relative Carolina Bublik told the outlet. "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."
Dmitri, his wife and their children had been in an Acura which was hit by a Suburban that had been struck by the bus. According to the BBC, Priscilla Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who was in the Suburban, also died.
An estimated 44 people were hospitalized following the crash, including three in critical condition, the outlet reported. Most of the people injured in the incident have since been discharged from the hospital, Mary Washington Healthcare confirmed to ABC7.
The NTSB's preliminary report into the crash is expected to be shared in the next 30 days. According to CBS News, State Police and the NTSB are examining the driver's actions before the crash.
"One of the things that we do, as a matter of course, is we do a 72-hour look back to see what the driver's activities were during the days leading up to the crash," Chapman said, per the outlet. "So we're looking for, you know, sleep issues, distraction issues, potential drug and alcohol issues."
Virginia State Police and the NTSB did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for further comment.
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