4 of 5 victims of Virginia bus crash were traveling to a family wedding, relative says

A family of four from Massachusetts who were killed when a bus crashed into multiple vehicles in Virginia were traveling to a wedding with a carload of homemade desserts for the celebration.

The family wedding will go forward Sunday in South Carolina, but it also will be a time to mourn the loss of Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their two children, Emily and Mark, a relative said Saturday.

“A son, a father — the whole family — everyone that has been dear to us,” Carolina Bublik said.

The Doncev family died early Friday when a motorcoach crashed into vehicles that had slowed down for a work zone on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia. A fifth person, a 25-year-old female from Worcester, Massachusetts, died in an SUV, authorities said.

More people were treated for injuries, including one who was in critical condition, though most were discharged from the hospital, Mary Washington Healthcare said.

A member of the National Transportation Safety Board planned to speak to reporters about the crash investigation Saturday.

The bus was operated by E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Virginia State Police identified the driver as Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York.

Dmitri, 45, and Ecaterina, 44, emigrated to the U.S. from Moldova in 2008 and settled in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Bublik said.

Dmitri was a nurse who worked at Holyoke Medical Center. Ecaterina was a hair stylist who spent days making desserts for the family wedding, Bublik said.

Dmitri and brother Iuri tried to stay together while traveling in separate vehicles to South Carolina.

“At some point they ended up getting separated,” Bublik said. “Dmitri said, ‘You go ahead. I’ll catch up later.’ It was a big shock when Iuri arrived at the house. Dmitri should have arrived around the same time. When his car did not show up, and he wasn’t picking up the phone — that’s when the family started panicking.”