A shuttle bus was overturned during an accident on Sunday morning as it was traveling on a highway near the capital. It was transporting a group of people back from a birthday party.
The early morning accident has killed one person and sent another 16 people to the hospital, according to Virginia State Police.
The bus was southbound on Interstate 95 when the accident happened. According to witnesses, a white sedan was speeding when it swerved into the bus’s lane. Initial reports from the Virginia State Police said that the bus swerved to avoid the car, which caused the bus to overturn. It was later determined that the two vehicles collided, causing the bus to lose control and eventually went off the road and flipped.
The driver in the white sedan fled the scene of the accident. He was arrested later on in the day and was charged with one felony count of hit-and-run, according to the Virginia State Police.
The man arrested was identified as Raphael Manuel Barrientos of Dumfries, Virginia.
The incident took place at approximately 3:28 a.m. on the interstate in northern Virginia’s Fairfax County, according to State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
According to Geller, the man who died in the accident was identified as David Alberto Sanchez, 24 years old, of Woodbridge, Virginia. He was one of two people who were flown to a hospital in Virginia.
According to Sanchez’s father, Sanchez was currently studying computers at a community college. He was attending a birthday party for a coworker.