UMVA has learned that a tragic crash on Interstate 95 claimed five lives after a charter bus plowed into a line of stalled vehicles in the early hours of Friday.
The 2024‑licensed driver, a naturalized citizen from China who does not speak English, allegedly failed to slow as traffic backed up for a work zone, slamming his E&P Travel bus into a Chevrolet Suburban.
The impact forced the Suburban into an Acura SUV, igniting a chain reaction that sent multiple cars careening and bursting into flames.
Inside the burning wreckage, a teenage girl and her younger brother perished alongside their parents, while a woman in the SUV behind the bus also lost her life.
Authorities identified the family as Dmitri Doncev, 45, his wife Ecterina, 44, and their children Emily, 13, and Mark, 7, all residents of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and the SUV driver as Priscilla R. Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Police reports indicate that traffic was crawling southbound when the bus, en route from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, barreled through the slowdown without braking.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the driver now faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with additional charges pending as investigators piece together the full sequence of events.
Officials say the crash exposed a glaring violation of federal regulations that require commercial bus drivers to possess sufficient English proficiency to understand road signs and communicate with law enforcement.
State and federal investigators are combing through licensing records, training documentation, and the driver’s history to determine how an unqualified operator reached the wheel.
The transportation department has promised a rigorous review of any company, trainer, or school implicated in placing an inadequately prepared driver behind the wheel, signaling a crackdown on safety lapses.
