Day after BEST crash in Mumbai, college student still critical, bus driver diagnosed with damaged knee

Mumbai: A day after a BEST electric AC bus rammed into multiple vehicles in Dadar, killing a 22-year-old delivery boy and injuring six others, 22-year-old collegian Rishabh Gupta and the driver remain hospitalised at Sion Hospital.Gupta’s condition remains severe; doctors said that he sustained a skull fracture with a blood clot in the brain.Initially thought to be minor injury, scans later showed that the bus driver had serious damage to his knee and he has been admitted in orthopaedics.Of the seven casualties rushed to Sion Hospital after the incident, Swiggy delivery partner Niyaz Ali (28) was brought dead to the hospital. The company representatives told TOI they have arranged for transport of his remains to his village in Uttar Pradesh.On Monday, three injured BEST workers left the hospital without informing the doctors, and a pedestrian opted for a DAMA to get admitted to a private hospital.Rishabh, a first-year BMS student at Kirti College and a part-time Swiggy gig worker, was heading to their store after class to earn some extra income on Sunday when the bus crashed into him and several other vehicles.His cousin, Vikas Sharma, said Rishabh is conscious, but unable to utter a word because his jaw also bore the impact of the crash. “The hospital has told us they can only provide more updates on his condition after 24 hours,” he said.Sharma alleged that the hospital delayed Rishabh’s CT scan and did not assign him to the ICU until late. However, hospital officials clarified that the patient had to be stabilised before undergoing the scan. “We need to make sure all vitals are stable, otherwise the patient could collapse,” said a senior doctor at Sion Hospital. The doctor added that an ICU bed was allotted to Rishabh as soon as existing patients were stable enough to be shifted to the general ward.