Four out of the five individuals who died in a bus crash in Virginia were members of a Massachusetts family. They were traveling to a family wedding with their vehicle loaded with desserts for the celebration. Despite the tragedy, the wedding will proceed on Sunday in South Carolina, doubling as a moment of remembrance and grief for Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their children, Emily and Mark.
Carolina Bublik, a relative, expressed the profound loss, saying, “A son, a father—all of them loved by us.” The Doncev family lost their lives early on Friday when a passenger bus collided with vehicles slowed due to roadwork on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia. Authorities reported that a 25-year-old woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, also perished in the accident while in an SUV. Several others received medical attention for injuries, with one person critically injured, but most were released from the hospital, according to Mary Washington Healthcare.
A member of the National Transportation Safety Board was expected to brief reporters on the investigation on Saturday.
The bus, operated by E&P Travel Inc. based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, was driven by Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York. Dmitri and Ecaterina, having emigrated from Moldova in 2008, settled in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Dmitri worked as a nurse at Holyoke Medical Center, while Ecaterina was a stylist and had spent days preparing desserts for the family wedding, Bublik shared.
Dmitri and his brother Iuri attempted to travel together in separate vehicles to South Carolina. At some point, they became separated. Dmitri reportedly said to Iuri, ‘Go ahead, I’ll catch up later.’ Shock enveloped the family when Iuri arrived at the destination only to find Dmitri had not. The lack of response from Dmitri’s phone heightened the panic.