IDs of bus crash victims hampered by 'horrific' scene

Doug Stanglin & Meghan Hoyer | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption I-40 bus crash: All evidence will be sent to D.A. Officials in Jefferson County, Tennessee update the latest on the investigation into a fatal bus crash involving a church bus, a tractor trailer and an SUV on the highway.

The identification of the bodies of eight people killed in the crash of a church bus in eastern Tennessee with an SUV and tractor-trailer is being hampered by the "horrific" nature of the tragedy, state troopers said Thursday.

Fourteen people were injured — two critically — in the Wednesday afternoon crash, Brad Phillips, the director of emergency services in Jefferson County, told reporters.

The crash occurred about 30 miles east of Knoxville when the left front tire on the bus malfunctioned, sending the vehicle screaming across the median where it hit a Chevrolet Tahoe van and slammed into the 18-wheeler.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it is not sending anyone to investigate the crash because of the government shutdown, NBC News reports. The network quotes Sharon Bryson, deputy director of communications for the NTSB, as saying that it's likely the board would have responded under normal conditions, but that all its investigators have been furloughed.

"In this particular case I think it's highly likely that we would have responded to it, but again, with our investigators furloughed, it's impossible to do that," Bryson told NBC News.

Because the bus was a church vehicle, it does not have to comply with the same strict record keeping regulations that other types of commercial buses, such as charter vehicles, have to maintain. While all buses must be "systematically inspected, repairs and maintained" with parts kept in safe condition, a church bus would not have to keep maintenance records to prove that safety checks and work had been done, nor would it have to keep records of its driver qualifications or hours logged on the road, according to documents from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

All drivers of church buses must have a valid commercial driver's license, and buses that cross state lines – as was the case with the First Street Baptist Church bus – are required to have an annual inspection and be registered through the Department of Transportation, FMSCA rules state.

Whether the First Street Baptist bus had its federal registration was still unclear Thursday afternoon.

FMCSA inspectors were on site at the crash scene. Unlike the National Transportation Safety Board, whose investigators and spokespeople are on federal government furlough, the FMCSA is funded through federal highway trust funds – not taxpayer dollars – and wasn't affected by the government shutdown.

The bus carried 18 elderly members of the Front Street Baptist Church in Statesville, N.C., who were returning from the 17th annual Fall Jubilee in Gatlinburg, Tenn., a three-day gathering of gospel singers and speakers.

The fatalities included six bus passengers, the big-rig driver and one of the three people in the Tahoe.

"We are devastated and just ask for the people to be praying," Dionne Stutts, wife of the church's senior pastor, Tim Stutts, told the Associated Press. The church has about 375 members.

Sgt. Bill Miller, of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, said investigators have not been able to identify the victims because of the condition of the bodies and will need to get dental records to complete their work.

"It is not very easy to discern who they are," he said. "The crash is so horrific."

The trooper told reporters that investigators are not even sure who the bus driver was.

Miller said the tractor-trailer, which was carrying a load of paper towels, was burned beyond recognition.

The trooper said the bus had seat belts, but that it was not clear how many victims were using them at the time of the crash.

The trooper also noted that the bus sliced through the cable-rail in the median, but says most guard rails are not designed to try to stop a heavy vehicle.

"If this had been a traditional guard rail-type system that most people are familiar with, with the big wide metal galvanized steel guard rails, it would have pushed through that as well," said Miller. "Guard rails and cable systems are there to restrain vehicles but if it's a dead-on collision into that cable rail or guard rail system, the vehicle will go through that."

Inside the Statesville church, people were crying and hugging each other Thursday. One woman whispered, "It's going to be all right" while hugging another woman. A memorial service was held Wednesday evening. Police cordoned off the church to prevent reporters from talking to those who attended.

"There was a very long night for all of us," Front Street Baptist Associate Pastor Rick Cruz said Thursday morning.

"This is hard," said Jerry Wright, whose 73-year-old brother, John, and his wife were on the bus. "You try not to think the worst, but it gets to you."

He believes his brother may have been driving the church bus because he had done so in the past.

"If he was driving, it's going to be bad," he said. "I've been trying to ring them. I've been calling their phone, but it keeps ringing and ringing and ringing."

The church has received a tremendous outpouring of love from the community, Cruz said.

"We know God is in control and is able to heal," he said.

George Stadtfeld, who has been a member of the church for eight years, said Wednesday he knew everyone on the bus. He said his wife, Elaine, had been on the trip but didn't travel on the bus. He said she called him crying.

"We're all shaken," he said. "As bad as it is, they're all Christians and I know where they're at. I'll join them later."

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, more than 700 million passengers annually ride buses, which includes everything from private charters to school buses. More buses – nearly 850,000 of them – were registered in 2010, the most recent year data is available, than at any time in the past three decades.

Accident statistics collected by the agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that in 2010, there were 245 fatal crashes involving buses, and that 44 bus occupants died in those crashes. NTSB projections for 2011 had occupant fatalities at 54.

Contributing: Meghan Hoyer, USA TODAY; Associated Press