Mass. household, Worcester girl recognized as victims in lethal Virginia bus crash
Native Information
The victims included a Greenfield couple and their two kids, in addition to a 25-year-old Worcester girl.
4 members of a Greenfield household and a Worcester girl have been recognized because the 5 Massachusetts residents killed in a fiery constitution bus crash on a Virginia freeway this week.
Virginia State Police recognized the victims as Dmitri Doncev, 45; Ecaterina Doncev, 44; Emily Doncev, 13; and Mark Doncev, 7, all of Greenfield, together with 25-year-old Priscilla R. Mafalda of Worcester.
The crash occurred on Thursday on Interstate 81 close to Lexington, Virginia, when a constitution bus touring from New York Metropolis to Charlotte, North Carolina, struck a number of automobiles as site visitors slowed for roadwork. Along with the 5 individuals killed, 34 others had been injured and brought to native hospitals, in keeping with authorities.
Investigators mentioned the bus did not decelerate and slammed right into a Chevrolet Suburban pushed by Mafalda. The affect pushed the SUV into the Doncev household’s Acura, which caught hearth.
Dmitri, a nurse at Holyoke Medical Middle, was driving his household by means of the night time to attend a marriage in South Carolina when the crash occurred, in keeping with the Boston Globe.
Dmitri’s 27-year-old niece, Carolina Bublik, shared the household’s grief with the Globe, saying the Doncevs would be a part of prolonged household at church each Sunday.
“Now it’s going to be very tough, the following Sunday that comes round, the place we will be unable to have them sit subsequent to us on the lunch desk,” mentioned Bublik.
The Doncevs had been members of the Windfall Christian Academy group, the place Emily and Mark attended faculty.
“The Doncev household was a cherished a part of our college group, and their loss is being felt deeply by our college students, households, college, and workers,” the varsity mentioned in an announcement.
A household buddy began a GoFundMe to lift cash for the household’s funeral bills.
Few particulars had been instantly out there about Mafalda.
Police have charged the bus driver, Jing S. Dong, 48, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and authorities mentioned further costs are pending.
A Staten Island, New York, resident, Dong obtained his industrial driver’s license in 2024, in accordance to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.
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