A Hong Kong pop singer and his wife were among those caught up in the terror of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, the worst in US history.
Leo Ku Kui-kei, a Hong Kong-based pop star, told a local radio station the couple hid with friends under a gambling table in a casino not far from where a lone gunman shot dead at least 59 people and wounded more than 500.
“I was holding my wife in my arms under the table, having no idea [where exactly was the shooting occurring], what I could do, and what would happen next,” said Ku, according to the South China Morning Post, which quoted from a radio interview the singer gave from Las Vegas this morning.
Ku had been in the Nevada city for a few days off with his wife after a concert in San Francisco.
They were at the Bellagio hotel at about 10pm when the sound of intense gunfire broke out about 2.6 kilmoteres away at the Mandalay Bay Resort.
The gunman, later identified as 64-year-old local resident Stephen Paddock, opened fire on more than 22,000 people at an outdoor music festival at Mandalay Bay from a room on the hotel’s 32nd floor.
With so many wounded, the death toll expected to rise.
Ku described scenes of panic at the Bellagio, which, together with the Mandalay Bay Resort, is among more than a dozen establishments owned by MGM Resorts on the Las Vegas strip.
MGM Resorts is a 50 percent partner in the nearby MGM Grand Macau.
Ku said patrons were haunted by rumors and speculation during the night as hotels went into lockdown and emergency responders tended to the hundreds of victims.
He took to Facebook this morning to thank patrons and staff at the resort who helped by providing water and towels in the hours after the attack.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said that the government had so far not received any call for help from Hongkongers in Las Vegas, according to the SCMP.
