One of the two people fatally shot in Siam Paragon on Tuesday was hiding in a women’s restroom with family members during the incident, said her niece.

The Chinese national has been identified as Ms Zhao Jinnan, 34.

The niece, identified on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo as 16-year-old Chloe Wan, said late on Tuesday that she and some of her family members were in the toilet on the second floor when the shooting broke out.

When they saw the shooter at the entrance of the restroom, they hid in the cubicles, she said. Her aunt and two unidentified women had collapsed outside the cubicles.

The two women were killed by the shooter using a modified handgun, national police chief Torsak Sukvimol said on Wednesday. Apart from Ms Zhao, the other victim was a Myanmar citizen working at the mall.

“I don’t know how she (the aunt) got hurt. When I saw her, she was already unconscious... I could only see her bleeding from her mouth,” Chloe told China’s Upstream News.

Chloe said on Weibo that Chinese embassy staff have visited her family at their hotel. She said her aunt had three daughters, including five-year-old twins, who were in Thailand with her.

The twins had yet to be told of their mother’s death, Chloe said in her post.

Chloe, who lives in Beijing, shared photos of one of the girls wearing blood-stained clothes and carrying a bloodied white backpack.

During the chaos on Tuesday evening, a Thai woman said she sheltered one of the daughters as some shoppers took refuge in retail units in the sprawling nine-storey complex. Hundreds of others in the mall fled outside into heavy rain.

In an emotional social media post, the woman said she stayed with the girl while her mother received medical attention, assuring her she would be reunited with her mother soon.

Unfortunately, the mother was later confirmed dead at the scene. The Thai woman described Tuesday as “the most sorrowful day of her life”.

China’s embassy in Thailand said on Tuesday night that a Chinese national was killed in the attack, while another was injured.

Thai police arrested the suspected shooter, a 14-year-old student from a private school close to Siam Paragon.

The boy was reportedly receiving psychiatric treatment and had surrendered after running out of bullets.

The police on Wednesday charged him with premeditated murder, attempted murder, carrying and firing a gun in a public place and owning an unlicensed firearm. He is undergoing psychiatric tests to see if he would be fit to stand trial, the police said.

At least five others, including a mall security guard, were injured in the incident.

Chloe, who only suffered scratches, said in her Weibo post that her mother was taken to hospital after the shooting, but she had no life-threatening injuries.

Her family was supposed to return to Beijing at 3am on Wednesday, but those plans have been shelved. Instead, her father will fly from China to join the group in Bangkok.

Thousands of Weibo users responded to Chloe’s post with messages of support and encouragement, while some based in Bangkok offered to serve as translators for the family.

One Weibo user shared an image of the suspect at a shooting range in Bangkok, saying that he saw him practising there days ago.

A group of Chinese tourists said they were sheltered by retail staff at the mall, Chinese daily The Paper reported.

One of them, identified as Ge Lan, said she was in the mall at around 4pm when the emergency alarm went off.

She initially mistook the commotion in the crowded mall as a reaction to celebrities arriving for a promotional event, but quickly realised people were fleeing after hearing gunshots.

Siam Paragon is a shopping mall in central Bangkok popular with locals and tourists and is connected to a metro station.

The shooting took place just days after Thailand started a five-month, visa-waiver programme on Sept 25 for travellers and tour groups from China in a bid to revive tourism following the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly 11 million people from China visited Thailand in 2019, making up more than a quarter of all arrivals to the kingdom before the pandemic.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his deputy, Mr Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, called Chinese Ambassador Han Zhiqiang to express their condolences on behalf of the Thai government, China’s embassy said on its website.

The Thai leaders said the authorities will strengthen public security management and work to ensure a reliable and safe environment for Chinese citizens in the kingdom.

Mr Srettha visited the injured Chinese nationals in hospital.

Chinese tourists were seen on Wednesday morning placing flowers at the entrance of Siam Paragon.