"I was holding my wife under the table"
Hong Kong pop singer Leo Ku Kui-kei and his wife were in Las Vegas during the worst mass shooting in US history.
SCMP reports that the couple hid under a gambling table in the nearby hotel Bellagio when gunfire was heard from Mandalay Bay, 2.6km away.
Ku had just arrived in Las Vegas, where he married Lorraine Chan in 2014, for a “few days off” on Sunday following his concert in San Fransisco.
“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,” Ku said.
According to Ku, people around him were running and screaming. The hotel suspended all lifts so the couple moved to a stairway at the rear of the building for shelter.
Along with a family from South Korea, Ku and his wife moved to a higher floor to seek safety. However, as none had a room at the hotel, they stayed in the hallway and waited for news from authorities. A lockdown was in place on all Las Vegas hotels.
Ku thanked the South Korean family for their help on a Hong Kong radio programme. “Some foreigners also came out of their rooms to offer help, lending us batteries and blankets in case we had to stay overnight in the corridor,” he said.
The 45-year-old singer eventually returned to his room at a nearby hotel at 5am after the lockdown was lifted.
“I was still very nervous when I had to go out and walk back to our hotel,” Ku said.
At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 wounded when Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, opened fire from his 32nd floor Mandalay Bay hotel room at a music festival happening below.
Local authorities announced that gunman was found dead in his hotel room.