A passenger bus crashed into vehicles slowing for a work zone on southbound Interstate 95 in Stafford County near Quantico early Friday, state police said. Five people were killed, 44 were taken to hospitals, and authorities said the bus failed to slow for tra
The sound of brakes turning into impact came before anyone could understand why it was happening.
Just after 2:35 a.m. Friday. a passenger bus on southbound Interstate 95 in Stafford County—near Quantico. Virginia—hit vehicles slowing for an upcoming work zone. according to Virginia State Police. Five people died in the crash, and 44 people were taken to hospitals, including three in critical condition, police said.
State police said the “preliminary investigation indicates that traffic was slowing southbound for an upcoming work zone.” They added that “a bus failed to slow for traffic and struck six vehicles.”
On the bus, authorities said there were “approximately” 34 passengers.
The Federal Transit Administration spokesperson Peyton Vogel was on the scene and spoke while patients were moved to multiple hospitals. “We’ve got patients in multiple hospitals. We’ve got the driver at a hospital here,” Vogel said. “I’ve got to say, this is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely tragic.”.
Investigators later described the toll in the cars struck by the bus. Four of the fatalities were in one car that caught fire. The victims were identified by state police as a 45-year-old male. a 44-year-old female. a 13-year-old female. and a 7-year-old male. all from Greenfield. Massachusetts. The fifth victim was a 25-year-old female from Worcester. Massachusetts. and was in an SUV that was struck by the bus.
The bus driver was identified as Jing S. Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York. State police said charges are pending.
Mary Washington Healthcare said it received 19 patients from the crash. His report posted online that seven patients were taken to its trauma center in Fredericksburg. where four were being discharged and three remained in treatment—one in serious condition and two in critical condition. Twelve were taken to its hospital in Stafford, where they were later discharged in good condition.
The National Transportation Safety Board posted online Friday that it was sending a “go-team” to conduct a safety investigation into the crash, and that it would have a spokesperson at the scene.
By noon Friday, the southbound lanes had reopened, but traffic was still backed up for a couple of miles, according to a state transportation advisory.
For two surviving passengers, the horror didn’t end with the first impact. Rhonda Wright and Wayne Tobin, both bruised and shaken, described what they saw and felt inside the bus in interviews with the Richmond Times-Dispatch outside the hospital where they were examined.
Wright and Tobin said they sensed something was wrong well before the crash. They described the driver as reckless and said the bus was traveling at extremely high speeds before it slammed into the slowing traffic.
They also described a violent sequence that kept unfolding after the first collision. Wright said the bus kept moving, striking one vehicle after another as passengers screamed, smoke filled the interior, and belongings flew through the air.
“The bus was still going, still hitting cars,” Wright said. “We felt like we were in a death trap because there was no way to stop the bus.”
When the bus finally stopped, Tobin said he escaped through the windows, covered in blood from other passengers. Wright said one man’s teeth had been knocked out.
“I’m 64 years old, and I thought I was going to die,” Wright said. “I’m just glad I’m alive today.”
Tobin was headed to Raleigh for his mother’s funeral, while Wright was traveling farther to Greensboro to visit family. Both said they were missing their phones and identification in the wreckage of the bus.
“My wallet is in there, my ID is in there, my phone is in there,” Wright said. “You can’t do anything without your ID.”
The bus was operated by E&P Travel, Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. A compliance snapshot from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed only one injury accident involving the company’s vehicles in the previous two years. and listed its compliance rating as “satisfactory.”.
Records show the company was incorporated Nov. 24, 2023, by Shuo Liu, according to North Carolina Secretary of State’s office records. Liu is also listed as the registered agent. The FMCSA site said the company operated four vehicles and had 11 drivers.
While it is too soon to say what caused Friday’s crash, federal authorities have been grappling with interstate passenger bus safety issues for decades.
Following a series of passenger bus crashes in 2008 that killed 41 people, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a Motorcoach Safety Action Plan. The NTSB investigated 16 fatal motorcoach crashes between June 1998 and January 2008. finding that driver-related problems such as fatigue. medical condition. and inattention accounted for 56 percent of the accidents. The agency said driver-related problems were responsible for 60 percent of the fatalities in those crashes.
Among the actions recommended were creation of a pre-employment driver history screening program, and a national drug- and alcohol-testing database “to enable motorcoach operators to determine if drivers have a history of violating DOT alcohol or drug rules.”
The crash on I-95 has now left families with unanswered questions and hospital hallways crowded with survivors—while state and federal investigators work to determine what happened in the moments between slowing for a work zone and a bus failing to slow for traffic.
Virginia I-95 Quantico bus crash Stafford County Virginia State Police NTSB work zone fatalities injuries Federal Transit Administration