( CNN ) -- Investigators probably will have to use dental records to identify some of the eight people who were killed in a wreck involving a church bus and two other vehicles in eastern Tennessee , a Tennessee Highway Patrol official said Thursday . Some of the bodies in Wednesday 's crash were burned or otherwise made unrecognizable , hindering authorities ' ability to notify all of the victims ' families about the deaths , highway patrol Sgt . Bill Miller said . `` The crash is so horrific ... it 's probably the worst that I have seen in my career ... and I 've worked in several , several counties in my '' 17 years on the job , Miller said . More from CNN affiliate WBIR . The bus , owned by a North Carolina church , was carrying a group of seniors on their way back home from a religious conference when one of its tires malfunctioned , sending the bus across a median on Interstate 40 and crashing into an SUV and a tractor-trailer , authorities said . Church bus was carrying seniors home from a jubilee . Eight people were killed : Six on the eastbound bus ; one of three occupants of the SUV , and the tractor-trailer driver , the Tennessee Highway Patrol said . Two of the 14 other people who were hospitalized after the wreck had been released by Thursday morning , said Travis Brickey , a representative of the University of Tennessee Medical Center . Two people were in critical condition ; seven were in serious condition , and three were in stable condition , Brickey said . None of the victims ' names was released . The church group -- about 18 people including the driver , Miller said -- was returning to the Front Street Baptist Church in Statesville , North Carolina , after attending the 17th annual Fall Jubilee conference in Gatlinburg . Indiana bus crash kills pastor , pregnant wife , chaperone on teen trip . The group of senior citizens was called `` Young at Heart , '' said Rick Cruz , the church 's pastor . Twelve of the hospitalized victims -- including the two in critical condition -- are church members , Cruz said Thursday morning . `` It 's been a very long night for all of us here , '' Cruz told reporters . `` We are thankful for all the prayers and support that we 've been receiving . '' More from CNN affiliate WHNS . The wreck happened about 2 p.m. Wednesday in Jefferson County , about 40 miles east of Knoxville , the Tennessee Department of Safety said . Miller said it was n't clear exactly what happened to the bus tire , other than it malfunctioned or failed in some way . The bus swerved across a grassy median and struck the SUV before hitting the tractor-trailer , he said . The bus came to rest on its side , pinning some of its occupants , he said . More from CNN affiliate WATE . Video from the site showed smoke rising from the tractor-trailer . Some people walked out of the bus on their own , but emergency personnel had to extricate others , Miller said . `` This was such a horrific crash that determining if seat belts were used or not ... may be extremely difficult to impossible to determine , '' he said . Miller said it 's too early to know whether charges will be filed in connection with the wreck . More from CNN affiliate WVLT . Girls injured when school bus overturns in Kansas . Six dead after bus , train collide in Ottawa . CNN 's Andrew Spencer and Rich Phillips contributed to this report .
NEW : Two of the 14 people hospitalized have been released . The other two patients are in critical condition and will be transferred to a hospital for further treatment, according to police. North Carolina church bus carried seniors returning from Tennessee jubilee . Police : Tire failed and bus crossed the median , striking an SUV and a tractor-trailer .