Driver's last words: 'our brakes are gone'

Survivors of a fatal bus crash re-lived the terror of the vehicle's plunge into a ravine in Kangaroo Valley.

They said the driver, Graham Lees, who was killed in the Friday-night accident, yelled to the 30 passengers from Sydney's Polish community to ''brace yourselves'' because there were ''brake problems'' as the bus careered towards a sharp bend on the Moss Vale Road.

Mr Rees, 58, of Bringelly, was killed when he was thrown out of the front window as the bus crashed through a metal safety fence on Barrengarry Mountain and bounced off trees as it slid down the embankment.

Eva Pawlowski was a passenger on the bus. Photo: Lee Besford

Those on board - volunteer carers for the sick and disabled attached to the Polish Australian Welfare Association at Ashfield - were on their way to a weekend educational retreat in Kangaroo Valley.

Edward Swiader, 66, a retired policeman from Ingleburn, said they had been driving downhill for 20 minutes when there was a heavy smell, which he thought was the brakes overheating.

''People yelled out 'slow down', and the driver replied 'we are having brake problems'.''

After the crash, Mr Swiader saw the front door was smashed in, so he kicked open a window and used the light from his mobile phone to help his wife, Diep, 63, and sister, Emilia Malecki, 58, and six other people out.

Barbara Nowicki, from Chatswood West, said the bus began to speed up as it headed down a hill.

''At the first moment I thought it was a tyre problem but then I thought it must be a brake because the bus was getting faster. The driver gave us a message that we should brace ourselves - then I understood that the accident was going to happen.''

Ms Nowicki said she curled up in a ball in her seat as the bus began hitting trees. When it stopped, thick white smoke filled the bus and she could hear her sister calling for her.

Eva Pawlowski, of Beecroft, was one of the last people to leave the bus.

''Today I'm happy to be alive but I'm still a bit in shock,'' she said.

''The driver went through the window and then we thought it was going to catch fire, because the engine was still running.''

Ms Pawlowski said people sitting in the front seats were squashed and passengers were thrown forwards.

''I don't think I ever want to go on a bus again.''

Yesterday The Sun-Herald visited Mr Lees's Bringelly property, which is also the address of bus company Steve's Mini Bus and Tours. The yard was filled with buses under repair. People working at the property would not comment.

Last night four people were still in hospital, including a 70-year-old passenger with serious head, neck, chest, arm, abdominal and pelvic injuries.

Police and the Roads and Traffic Authority were expected to examine the vehicle's brakes.