The ill-fated 217B that fell into Lower Bagjola Canal on Friday, killing 20 people. A Telegraph picture. (Below): Saumitra Das. Picture by Tamaghna Banerjee

Ma, I am ok. You get well soon and come back home.

Eight-year-old Sukriti Das wrote the letter to her mother Sumana, unaware that she is fighting for life in the Intensive Therapy Unit of a private hospital. The 38-year-old woman, a nurse at Beleghata ID Hospital, was one of the passengers on the 217B bus that fell into Lower Bagjola Canal on Friday afternoon.

“My daughter gave me this letter to deliver to Sumana. But will I ever be able to deliver it to her?” asked the girl’s father Saumitra.

“If something happens to Sumana, how will I face my daughter? She made me promise that I will bring her mother back to her,” he added.

Saumitra last spoke to his wife on Friday, informing her about Sumana’s annual examination results. “She was happy to know that our daughter had fared well,” he said.

It was a day-long wait for him and his family members outside the ITU of Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals on Monday. “We were hopeful about her survival in the morning, when doctors told us that she was responding to treatment,” said Samaresh Roy, a relative.

According to the family members, Sumana could recognise them and was responding to the directions of the doctors. However, her condition deteriorated since afternoon.

“She is in an extremely critical state. She is suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome and there is heavy accumulation of fluid in her lungs as a result of falling into the water,” said Suresh Subramanium, the doctor treating her. Drugs are being tried to drain the fluid from the lungs, he added.

Five other victims of the mishap, who are admitted in Apex Nursing Home in Baguiati’s Joramandir, are on the road to recovery and may soon be released.

Swapan Dutta was shifted from the Critical Care Unit to the general ward on Monday. Some of his respiratory problems persist, but he is otherwise stable.

Marjina, Zahir, Rahim and Sunita Mondol are almost fit enough to return home. Doctors will take a call on Tuesday.

Runu Das, admitted in New Life Nursing Home, has recovered from the shock of her son’s death in the accident and is physically and mentally stable. Her five-month-old foetus did not suffer damage, said a doctor.

Sujit Kumar Dutta, who is admitted in Charnoc Hospital, was shifted to the general ward from the Intensive Care Unit. “He has pneumonia but is stable,” said Mita Majumder, who is treating him.