According to witnesses, in less than 10 minutes the gang of armed men, all under 30 years and fully clad in bulletproof vests, invaded the gas station leaving in their wake traumatised pump attendants, cashiers, a driver, his wife and two children, two and three years old.

A visibly shaken Mr. John Gouveia said he was in the process of purchasing gasolene for his car when he noticed two `Route 44' buses approaching.

He recalled that he was commenting to his wife about the vehicles when his car was swarmed by some of the men who proceeded to terrorise and rob him and his wife.

Some witnesses claimed the men arrived in a car.

Gouveia lost an undisclosed sum of cash, rings, a cell phone and a gold chain was forcibly removed from his neck.

His wife was also robbed of her jewellery and was forced to lift her feet through one of the car windows to get off her ankle bracelet, he added.

Some of the men also stormed into the Convenience Store and robbed the cashier of some $50,000, discharging their weapons and forcing the employees to take cover.

Others forced the pump attendants at gunpoint to activate the fuel pumps and they saturated the premises and pumps with gasolene, witnesses said.

But several attempts by the attackers to ignite the fuel with matches failed.

It was at this point that one of the men threatened to kill Mr. Gouveia.

He said he was convinced that the screams from his two terrified toddlers confused the bandit who wanted to shoot him and that that saved his life.

The distracted bandit ordered him to drive the car and then commanded him to leave the vehicle and run, he said.

He said his wife ran but fell bruising her knees and he managed to drive away with his traumatised children in the back seat.

The men then beat a hasty retreat, firing shots in the air.

A fire tender later arrived and sprayed the gasolene soaked area with foam and a Police patrol and MMC Security guarded the premises.

A crowd also gathered at the scene.

Police checked the gas station's surveillance cameras placed strategically around the building.

Mr. Stanely Ming, a close friend of the gas station owner, Mr. Chris Callendar, told reporters that the men fired shots in the store while removing an undisclosed sum of cash, but no one was wounded.