The five victims in a Stafford County, Virginia, bus crash have been identified by law enforcement as a family of four, immigrants from Moldova, and a young woman, an immigrant from Brazil. The bus driver, a Chinese immigrant who gained naturalized American citizenship, did not speak English and therefore could not read road signs, officials say.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed over the weekend that a naturalized citizen from China, 48-year-old Jing S. Dong, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Dong was able to secure a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) from the state of New York in 2024 despite not speaking any English.
On May 29, Dong was driving a motor coach bus on Interstate 95 in Stafford County when he allegedly failed to slow down in a work zone. Dong is accused of causing a multi-car crash that spurred a chain reaction, killing five and injuring 44 others, including three who suffered critical injuries.
Four of the five victims in the crash have been identified as 45-year-old Dmitiri Doncev, his wife Ecterina, 44 years old, along with their two young children, 13-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Mark. The family, originally from Moldova, was from Greenfield, Massachusetts and was on their way to a family wedding in South Carolina.
“Today, words cannot adequately express the pain and sorrow felt by their family, friends, church community, coworkers, classmates, and all who had the privilege of knowing them,” relatives of the Doncev family said in a statement. “The legacy of kindness, faith, perseverance, and love that they leave behind will continue to inspire all who knew them.”
In addition to the Doncev family, 25-year-old Priscilla Mafalda was killed in the crash. Mafalda, originally from Brazil, had been residing in Worcester, Massachusetts and was driving to Florida where she had planned to take a vacation.
Federal investigators, as well as local law enforcement, are probing the crash. Duffy suggested that Department of Transportation investigators are looking into Dong’s lack of English language proficiency as a factor in the crash.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected].
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