The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a subpoena to New York State demanding records related to Jing S. Dong, the driver accused in a fatal bus crash on Interstate 95 in Virginia that killed five people and injured at least 44.
According to federal officials, Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter following a chain-reaction collision around 2:35 a.m. Friday in Stafford County, Virginia. The incident involved at least eight vehicles and resulted in the deaths of five individuals: four from Greenfield, Massachusetts, including a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, and one from Worcester, Massachusetts. Forty-four people were hospitalized with injuries ranging from critical to non-life-threatening.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that Dong, who reportedly does not speak English, obtained his commercial driver’s license from New York State in 2024. “Unacceptable,” Duffy wrote on social media, adding, “If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus.”
Federal investigators are reviewing Dong’s commercial driver’s license and training records to determine his qualifications for operating a bus. The Trump administration has taken the step of subpoenaing New York officials after state authorities reportedly refused to cooperate with the federal investigation into the crash.