Deadly I-95 bus crash: NTSB says speed played a role with full investigation underway

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. - A chain-reaction crash on Interstate 95 left five people dead and dozens injured in Stafford County early Friday morning. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a full investigation into the collision, with officials now indicating that speeding played a role.

The backstory:

The crash occurred near mile marker 146 when a charter bus, traveling from New York to North Carolina carrying dozens of passengers, failed to stop for traffic and crashed into a car ahead of it. The initial impact triggered a massive collision involving at least eight vehicles.

It claimed the lives of five individuals, all from Massachusetts. Four of the victims were members of a single family traveling to a wedding in South Carolina.

Dmitri and Katarina Don, along with their two children, 13-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Mark, were killed in one of the vehicles struck during the chain reaction. Priscilla Mafalda, 25, was killed when the bus initially collided with the vehicle ahead of it.

Driver charged

What we know:

The driver of the charter bus, identified by police as 48-year-old Jing Dong of New York, survived the crash but remains hospitalized with injuries.

Authorities have charged Dong with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with additional charges pending. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has publicly questioned the driver's qualifications, noting that Dong only recently obtained his commercial driver's license in 2024.

NTSB investigation

Dig deeper:

A six-member NTSB team is currently on the ground to conduct a thorough review of the incident. The team's investigative plan includes examining weather conditions, crash data, the design of the surrounding construction zone and the traffic backup that formed just before the collision.

Investigators are also conducting a standard "72-hour lookback" on the driver's activities leading up to the crash to rule out or identify potential sleep issues, distractions, or drug and alcohol impairment.

"Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened, and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again," an NTSB official said. "We will not be determining the probable cause of the crash while we were on scene, nor will we speculate about the cause. These are the first steps in a lengthy investigative process." 

The NTSB team will remain at the crash site for the next week gathering evidence. A preliminary report on the deadly collision is expected to be released in 30 days.