An eighth person in Thursday’s crash involving a Phoenix-bound Greyhound bus and semitrailer in New Mexico has died, authorities said Friday morning.

The eighth victim was transferred to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator from the University of New Mexico Hospital, the Medical Investigator office said.

The bus was struck by a semitruck on Interstate 40 about noon Thursday near Thoreau, New Mexico, killing eight people and injuring many others. Thoreau is about halfway between Gallup and Albuquerque. Both directions on the Interstate 40 were closed for hours.

The bus was on its way to Phoenix, where it was supposed to arrive about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities have not released information on how many passengers may have been from the Phoenix area or intended to get off the bus in Phoenix. An additional stop in Glendale also was scheduled, according to a Greyhound schedule for the bus that was on its website Thursday.

New Mexico state police Chief Pete Kassetas said at a press conference Friday afternoon the eastbound semitruck suffered a tire failure, crossed the median into eastbound traffic and crashed nearly head-on with the bus.

Kassetas said the semitruck “jackknifed” into the dirt medium and was basically a “50,000-pound projectile.”

“Seconds really mattered here,” Kassetas said.

If the tractor-trailer had been off by a few more seconds, the chief said, it would have been a direct head-on-head collision.

“It would have been much more catastrophic,” Kassetas said, “although, the loss of eight lives in itself is enough.”

Kassetas, a sergeant investigating the crash, said it was the worst collision with deaths that he had ever seen.

The semitruck’s driver, whose name has not been released, sustained survivable injuries in the crash, New Mexico state police said.

No further fatalities were reported at the press conference.

Kassetas acknowledged the efforts of groups including the American Red Cross chapters of New Mexico and Greater Phoenix, that helped offer care and support to crash victims. 

In a press conference Friday, University of New Mexico Hospital officials said they have 10 patients receiving care.

Of those 10 patients, three adults are in the intensive care unit — one remains in critical condition; two are in serious condition. Two patients are in the neonatal intensive care unit. One patient was expected to be discharged later in the day.

Several patients were scheduled for surgeries over the next two days, hospital officials said.

Although doctors declined to offer specifics, they said the patients who came in during the hours that followed Thursday’s crash on Interstate 40 near the Arizona border had injuries ranging from head trauma to spine fractures and other broken bones.

“Probably several of them will have a long road of recovery ahead,” said Dr. Sonlee West, University of New Mexico Hospital’s trauma director.

Forensic pathologists and investigators at the Office of the Medical Investigator are working to identify the victims.

Relatives of a Farmington woman told the Farmington Daily Times they believe their mother was one of the eight people who died in Thursday’s crash.

The daughters of Sadie Thomas, 50, believe their mother died after one of them spoke to a medical investigator. Val Thomas, of Waxahachie, Texas, learned about the news from her sister Felicia Dickenson, of Edmond, Oklahoma. Val Thomas told the Daily Times that Dickenson provided a clothing description and a description of Sadie Thomas’ hairstyle to a medical investigator Friday morning.

The investigator told Dickenson it’s possible Sadie Thomas is among the deceased.

Authorities continue to investigate the crash’s circumstances.

“It will be weeks or month until we get down to the exact causation of this crash,” Kassetas said. 

Truck driver Santos Soto III shot video showing the front of the Greyhound sheared off and the semi split open, with its contents strewn across the highway. He saw people sobbing on the roadside as bystanders tried to comfort them.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Check back at azcentral.com for updates.

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