KUALA LUMPUR: "Is my mom going to die?" A pair of five-year-old twins cried for help from strangers who were escaping from the horrifying shooting incident which occured in the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Thailand yesterday.
Thai netizen @SomDoung related her sorrowful encounter with the Chinese twins on social media platform X, and said yesterday was the saddest day of her life.
"The pair of twins came up to me, saying that they could not find their mother, who had been shot. My phone battery was about to die, holding on tight with the last one per cent. Still I tried to help them out.
"One of them asked me if their mother was going to die. At that moment, I tried to comfort her by saying their mother was just hurt, and they would be able to find her soon," wrote SomDoung.
However, the white lie was too good to be true, as police later found out that she did not survive the shooting.
SomDoung recalled how heart-wrenching it was to come across this situation and wondered why the children had to go through such pain.
"I feel like crying, and I feel so bad for the pair of twins," she said.
The original post came with pictures of the children, with bloodstains seen on their clothes and the scene of the incident.
Another X user @Yultajang expressed condolences over the incident and urged the Thai government to review its control over guns and firearms.
"Thailand's laws need to change. Incidents like this should never happen. Juveniles should be held accountable to the fullest extent, just like adults, when they commit such intentional acts. There should be no leniency."
Another user @DuocSiOnline expressed concern for the twins emotional state which would be significantly impacted by the traumatic loss of their mother.
Thai police have confirmed that two individuals — a Chinese national and a Myanmar national — died, while five others were injured in the shooting incident at Siam Paragon Shopping Centre, Thailand's most iconic shopping centre, popular among locals and tourists alike.
Large-scale shooting incidents are rare in Thailand; however, this is the third firearm attack in recent years.
In 2020, a soldier shot and killed 29 people and injured 58 others in a rampage across four locations in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima.
On Oct 6 last year, at least 36 people were killed in a gun and knife attack at a childcare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province. It was the country's deadliest incident of its kind.