While there are still questions as to why a RIPTA bus hit a utility pole on Post Road and then veered across the southbound lane to slam into a building Monday night, both the driver and a passenger who had been listed as “critical” at Rhode Island Hospital were upgraded to “fair” yesterday.

The driver, 51-year-old Richard Avedisian of North Kingstown –who is no relation to Warwick Mayor and RIPTA Board Chairman Scott Avedisian – and Kyle Adams, 21, from Providence, were extricated from the crumpled bus by Warwick firefighters. A second passenger, Paulino Cortez, 39, from Providence, was treated for minor injuries at Rhode Island Hospital and released. A third bus passenger left the scene in the moments after the crash. Warwick police later identified this passenger as Nabil Boudib, a 32-year-old male from Providence, and have since interviewed him. Boudib was not injured as a result of the crash.

“It was a miracle that no one was killed,” Fire Chief James McLaughlin said Tuesday. He credited firefighters, who had to use the Jaws of Life to cut into the bus, with extricating the driver and Adams quickly.

According to RIPTA, the bus was traveling north on Post Road shortly after 7 p.m. near Sand Pond Road, when it struck a telephone pole. The bus continued northward for about 1,000 feet before it veered across the street and hit the building at 1207 Post Road, which houses Rhode Island Paintball & Airsoft.

McLaughlin said a critical support to the building was knocked out, leaving the bus to support the building roof. He said as one team worked on rescuing those in the bus, another crew devised a means of supporting the building. There were two people in the building at the time of the accident, neither of whom was injured.

The south end of the building at 1207 Post Road was collapsed in a pile of rubble Tuesday morning. The site had been fenced off, and a dumpster was in the process of being delivered as cleanup was about the start.

There is speculation that the driver, a 22-year employee of RIPTA with a good driving record, suffered some sort of medical condition causing the accident. Neither alcohol nor speed appeared to be a factor.

Warwick Police asked anyone with information or who witnessed the incident, to contact the lead investigator, Officer Robert Hart, at 468-4345.