Five Killed in Bus Crash In Virginia on I-95
A bus crash in virginia on southbound Interstate 95 killed five people and injured 34 others early Friday in Stafford County near Quantico. State police said the bus struck vehicles slowing for an upcoming work zone at about 2:35 a.m.
Forty-four people were taken to hospitals, including three in critical condition. By noon, the southbound lanes had reopened.
Southbound I-95 near Quantico
State police said a bus failed to slow for traffic and struck six vehicles. All five people who died were in vehicles hit by the bus, and four of the victims were in one car that caught fire.
The dead included a 45-year-old male, a 44-year-old female, a 13-year-old female and a 7-year-old male from Greenfield, Massachusetts. The fifth victim was an unidentified 25-year-old female from Worcester, Massachusetts.
Jing S. Dong identified
State police identified the bus driver as Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York. Charges are pending. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Dong was an American citizen originally from China who got his commercial driver's license two years ago in New York.
The bus carried approximately 34 passengers, according to state police. E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, operated the bus. Federal records listed the company with a satisfactory safety rating, one injury accident in the previous two years, four vehicles and 11 drivers.
Mary Washington Healthcare
Mary Washington Healthcare received 19 patients from the crash. Seven were taken to the trauma center in Fredericksburg, where three remained in treatment Friday, including one in serious condition and two in critical condition. Twelve patients were taken to the Stafford hospital and were later discharged in good condition.
Peyton Vogel, a Federal Transit Administration spokesperson, said on the scene, “We’ve got patients in multiple hospitals. We’ve got the driver at a hospital here” and, “I’ve got to say, this is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely tragic.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a go-team to conduct a safety investigation into the crash. The bus was in a work-zone area on a major interstate, and the fatalities came from the vehicles struck rather than from the bus itself.
