Five killed, dozens injured in crash on I-95 in Stafford County, Virginia

Five people were killed and dozens more were injured Friday in an early-morning “mass casualty” crash on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 2:35 a.m. where traffic was slowing ahead of a work zone, according to Virginia State Police.

The preliminary investigation indicated that a bus failed to slow for traffic and struck six vehicles, according to state police.

State police said the people who died in the crash were in the vehicles struck by the bus. Thirty-seven others were injured and taken to hospitals, including one person who was airlifted via helicopter, Stafford County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Katie Brady told reporters.

“Based on the number of patients, a Mass Casualty Incident was declared,” the department said in a social media post. Over a dozen ambulances, two heavy rescue squads, and several fire trucks and engines responded to the crash.

A first responder to the scene reported “multiple people jumping out of windows, multiple vehicles on fire,” according to radio traffic archived on Broadcastify.com.

State police said the crash remains under investigation, and charges are pending. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was also conducting a safety investigation into the crash in a post on X.

In a statement on social media, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said her office and state agencies were working to respond to the crash.

“My heart is with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and I am praying for a quick recovery for those injured,” Spanberger wrote.

Following the incident, the emergency department at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center received around 15 patients, according to spokesperson Heather Swartz.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this event, and we are grateful to the first responders who assisted at the scene,” Swartz said in an emailed statement. “In response to this incident, we worked closely with EMS, public safety agencies and hospital departments to quickly assess patients and provide the care each person needed.”

Swartz later said that all patients were in good condition and had been released.

The crash occurred at the 146-mile marker in Stafford County, state police said. That is about two miles south of Exit 148 for Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Following the crash, about five miles of I-95 southbound were closed this morning, but all of the lanes later reopened, Kelly Hannon, the Fredericksburg District spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said at about 12 p.m.

Photos of the bus show it was operated by E&P Travel based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Company officials did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The company, which operates four buses and lists a residential apartment as its address, has faced three violations for speeding at least 15 mph over the limit during that past two years, federal records show.

In 2024, one of the company’s buses was involved in a crash in Lexington, North Carolina, in which it failed to slow down and struck another vehicle from behind, North Carolina State Highway Patrol records show. That crash resulted in nine injuries, according to federal records.

A representative for the company told WCNC television station in Charlotte that the bus in Friday’s crash had been traveling overnight from New York City to Charlotte.