Resident Sphiwe Mrabuya said in the madness of the moment he tried to save one of the children.

Sphiwe saw people running in panic in all directions from the strong smell of the leaking gas.

"I saw children crying and screaming. Parents were carrying their babies in a bid to save them.

"Some parents died while still holding their children in their arms," he said.

Sitting a few metres away from the body of one-year-old baby covered in a white blanket, Sphiwe said he and his friend who owns a spaza shop were the first to run in and to try and save people.

"I grabbed two of the children who were running away from the house where the gas bottle was."

He said he took milk from the spaza shop and made one of the children drink it.

"I thought I would save her but she fell down and never stood up again. She died right there."

While Sphiwe was busy trying to save the baby's life, one spaza shop owner, Shedu Machamo, used his car to take seven people to the nearest hospital.

Speaking to Scrolla.Africa just outside the police cordoned scene Shedu said when he saw people falling down she closed his shop and took them to hospital. "All I wanted was to save their lives."

He said one family lost five members while he saved two who are still fighting for their lives in hospital.