As people around the world are still reeling in shock after the recent Las Vegas shooting, eye-witnesses have come forward to share their stories. 

Hong Kong pop singer Leo Ku Kui-kei is amongst those who have described their experience of being in the city of Nevada as the mass shooting took place. 

The cold-blooded massacre happened during an outdoor country music concert that resulted in the loss of at least 59 lives with over 500 injured.

Ku was with his wife, Lorraine, at the Bellagio hotel, which is approximately 2.6 kilometres away from the scene of the crime at the Mandalay Bay Resort.

The couple and their friends hid under a gambling table when the sound of gunfire broke out.

He recalled the experience on a Hong Kong radio programme on Tuesday morning (Oct 3).

Ku said they had “no idea” where the shooting came from and that people around him were in a state of panic as they screamed and ran for cover.

Unbeknownst to them at the time, a 64-year-old man had just opened fire from his room on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay – taking aim at 22,000 concert-goers.

The attacker was reportedly equipped with at least 23 weapons and two tripods, and fired rifles out of two different windows in his room. 

Ku recalled: “I was holding my wife in my arms under the table, having no idea … what I could do, and what would happen next.”

Later on, he moved to a stairway at the back of his hotel building as the Bellagio had suspended all the elevators.

As they weren’t guests of the Bellagio, they could only wait in the hallway.

Throughout the night, those affected by the lockdown could only cope with “rumours and speculation” as the death toll increased in news reports.

The gunman Stephen Paddock had apparently shot himself dead in his hotel room, as discovered by a police Swat team after seven hours of search.

Once the lockdown was lifted, Ku returned to his nearby hotel at 5am after waiting for six hours.

The 45-year-old singer later updated his Weibo page to announce his safety.

“I would like to thank Jenthew, Jason and the hotel patrons who aided us in this time of chaos. I would also like to thank the South Korean family who brought us to a safer area at the top of the Bellagio, as well as its staff who helped by providing water and towels in the hours after the attack,” he wrote.

“Last but not least, I would like to thank fellow travellers John and his wife for allowing us to borrow their portable chargers when our phones were running out of battery.”

Ku added that he was unable to sleep despite being in the safety of his own hotel room and was “very nervous” during the walk back to his hotel.

He was with his wife in Nevada to relive memories as they had tied the knot there back in 2014.

The singer had taken “a few days off” after wrapping up his ‘We’ concert tour in San Francisco on Sept 30.

ssandrea@sph.com.sg