An Auckland construction worker who jumped in to rescue a toddler trapped under a bus after it rolled backwards down a road in the CBD admits the event has taken a toll on him.
City Rail Link construction worker Steeley Ashley said "everything happened so quickly".
He dived in to assist after the crash and was one of the first on the scene. He described the ordeal in a video posted by City Rail Link to the agency's Facebook page.
Witnesses said the red sightseeing bus rolled backwards and hit a woman and toddler in a pram on Victoria Street West shortly after 1pm on Monday.
Onlookers rushed to aid a mum pushing a pram before the woman and her toddler emerged alive from under the bus after the incident.
"We just seen the bus coming through site. We heard a loud crack - that's what drew my attention," Mr Ashley said. "I freaked out a little bit and then all of a sudden, body and brain went into autopilot."
He ran around to the front of the bus where he heard a child screaming, then took the "dreaded" look under.
"I thought I was going to see a poor kid pinned under a wheel or something. Looked under anyway, saw she was free, crawled under the bus, grabbed her, pulled her out.
"From the time that the bus came crashing into the site to the time where I pulled the baby out it just felt like a matter of seconds.
"For me, I didn't even think about my own safety or anything. I just ran straight in there to assist however I could and I was the fortunate one that managed to find baby and pull her out."
However, he admitted the event has affected him.
"It's taken it's toll on me a little bit," he said. "Yesterday I found out that bungy swing thing on Victoria Street, I heard screams off that and I instantly went into a panic. I didn't realise it had taken that much of a toll on me but it has."
Witnesses say the sightseeing bus rolled backwards down Victoria Street.
However, when asked what he thought of being hailed a hero, Mr Ashley said he didn't consider himself one.
"I done what anyone else would've done, I feel. You know, there was plenty of people there I was just the first one there."
Multiple investigations are underway into how the parked tour bus rolled back and struck pedestrians on Monday.
Mark Gilbert, the owner of Soaring Kiwi Tours, the company involved in the incident, told 1 NEWS in a statement, "We are fully supporting the police in their investigation and our current priority is supporting the members of the public that were hurt in the incident and supporting our team."
Both disappeared under the double-decker, but it appears neither were seriously hurt.
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