Local Couple Died in I-15 Van Crash

Among the victims of a fatal van crash on a Nevada highway were a Newhall couple, identified as Zyama and Tsilya Pevtsov, authorities said Saturday.

The Pevtsovs were part of a group, many of them childhood friends from Belarus, that was heading to Las Vegas last week to celebrate the 60th birthday of Marat Romanovskaya of Chatsworth.

Eight people, including Romanovskaya’s wife, Leya, were killed and five injured when the van skidded out of control and plunged down a steep median on Interstate 15, about 30 miles south of Las Vegas.

Nevada Highway Patrol investigators said the van’s driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The Clark County coroner identified the Pevtsovs as victims Friday, according to the Associated Press.

For several years, the couple ran a dry-cleaning business in Newhall, said Edward Philipous, owner of Newhall Cleaners. Philipous said he sold them the business about nine years ago and later bought it back.

“They were nice people, very hard working,” he said.

Zyama Pevtsov, 61, had worked as a furniture refinisher in Russia and later in New York, where the family immigrated about 20 years ago. His wife was better at English and took the lead running the dry-cleaning business, Philipous said.

“She did the alterations. She was very, very good at tailoring,” he said. Philipous said the couple has two grown sons.