Law enforcement has identified the five victims of a bus crash in Stafford County, Virginia: a family of four immigrants from Moldova and a young woman from Brazil. The bus driver, Jin S. Dong, a naturalized citizen from China, reportedly didn’t speak English and couldn’t read the road signs, according to officials.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that last weekend, Dong, 48, was charged with two counts of manslaughter. Despite the language barrier, he managed to obtain a commercial driver’s license in New York State in 2024.
On May 29, Dong was driving on Interstate 95 when he is alleged to have failed to reduce speed in a work zone, leading to a series of crashes that resulted in five deaths and injuries to 44 others, among them three seriously hurt.
The victims included Dmitili Dontsev, 45, his wife Ekaterina, 44, and their two children, Emily, 13, and Mark, 7. This Moldovan family was traveling from Greenfield, Massachusetts, to attend a wedding in South Carolina.
Relatives of the Dontsev family expressed their grief, stating, “Words cannot capture the sorrow felt today by their families, friends, and everyone who had the honor of knowing them.” They added that the family’s “legacy of kindness, faith, patience, and love will endure as an inspiration to all.”
In addition to the Dontsev family, 25-year-old Priscilla Mafalda, originally from Brazil and residing in Worcester, Massachusetts, was also killed in the incident. She was en route to Florida for a vacation.
Both federal agents and local authorities are looking into the crash, and Duffy noted that the Department of Transportation is examining Dong’s limited English skills as a potential contributing factor.
