GoFundMe started for Tri-Cities researcher killed in crash. His wife is still hospitalized

A fundraiser has been started after a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researcher died and his wife was injured in a car crash near Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River.

Money raised through GoFundMe will be used for the funeral of Abhinav Srivastava, 32, and the medical expenses of Stuti Srivastava, 28.

She is in stable condition after being flown by air ambulance to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the GoFundMe post.

“The loss of Abhinav has been a devastating blow to their family and friends,” said the GoFundMe created by Hrishikesh Das and four others.

“We are all struggling to come to terms with his untimely death, and we are grateful for the outpouring of support that we have so far received,” it said.

The GoFundMe page posted Tuesday afternoon had raised about $14,000 in five hours.

The couple were headed to Seattle the evening of Friday May 12 when Abhinav Srivastava pulled onto Highway 26 from Highway 243 and was hit by a semi truck with a trailer, said the Washington State Patrol. He died before he could be taken to a hospital.

He was a post-doctoral researcher in the applied materials and manufacturing group at the Department of Energy national lab in Richland, Wash., since October 2021.

He earned a doctorate in materials science and engineering from Texas A&M University after earning a bachelor of technology in metallurgical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India.

His LinkedIn profile said that as a researcher he worked to improve materials’ properties and solve engineering challenges. In his free time he pursued photography and coding.

Donations to the GoFundMe for the Srivastavas may be made at bit.ly/3Oie8EC.