New details were revealed Friday in court about the deadly charter bus crash on Interstate 95 in Virginia that killed five people and injured dozens of others in May.
The bus driver, Jing Dong, is charged with five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving. Authorities say he was behind the wheel of a bus that crashed into multiple cars on I-95 about 2:35 a.m. on May 29. It happened about two miles south of the exit for Quantico in Stafford County. Drivers were slowed down because of a work zone when the bus driver âfailed to slow for trafficâ and slammed into several vehicles, Virginia state police have said.
How the crash happened still remains a mystery, but videos played in Stafford County court during a preliminary hearing Friday provided a new perspective.
In court, prosecutors played two videos from cameras mounted on the bus Dong was driving. Video from a camera on the outside of the bus showed the bus traveling at speed when the crash occurred. The second camera showed Dong behind the wheel of the bus. He did not appear distracted. Both of his hands were on the steering wheel, and he had nothing else in his hands when the crash happened, the video showed.
His attorney says what happened is not manslaughter â it was an accident.
Dong, 48, has been released from custody until his trial.
His attorney argued in court Friday that Dong should not be facing manslaughter charges but acknowledged he does not know why, as prosecutors allege, Dong plowed into several vehicles as he approached a work zone on I-95.
“This guy is under the speed limit, [hands at] 10 and 2, right in a straight lane. He just doesnât stop,” Jongâs attorney, Thomas Walsh, said.
Walsh said he was not prepared yet to say why the crash may have happened but says it wasnât manslaughter.
“Well, there is a good defense for it. I am not going to get into it,” Walsh told News4. “I will hold that one.”
Two police officers, two state troopers and a truck driver all took the stand Friday and testified about what happened that morning.
One trooper testified she climbed through the roof of the crashed bus and found smoke, blood, broken glass and debris as she helped passengers get out. The trooper said she found Dong trapped behind the wheel.
A second trooper testified there were four road signs warning of an upcoming construction zone and closed lanes ahead of where the crash happened.
Two off-duty police officers who happened upon the scene described using fire extinguishers as they tried to pull victims from burning cars.
Four members of one family, a couple and their two children from Greenfield, Massachusetts, were killed, as was a woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, who was in a separate car. A total of 44 people needed medical treatment.
Prosecutors have secured three indictments for involuntary manslaughter so far and are expected to seek two more.
But Dong’s lawyer says what happened that morning was not a crime.
“Obviously, it’s an accident, yes,” he said.
Dong is due back in court Sept. 2. His trial is scheduled for October.
