Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of death, violence, combat and physical abuse.
Aaliyah Qureishi, who was recently seen in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan, has recounted her terrifying experience in Thailand. She revealed that she was caught in a life-threatening situation, and was in the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok when a 14-year-old opened fire, killing 2 people on the spot. Aaliyah revealed that she and her 2 friends saw the mass hysteria, and heard the gunshots. She wrote a lengthy post on Instagram, narrating the terrifying experience.
Jawan’s Aaliyah Qureishi recounts scary experience during Thailand mall shooting
Aaliyah Qureishi wrote in her Instagram post that it’s difficult to write about this. She mentioned that she was in Thailand during the Siam Paragon shooting, and in fact, she and her 2 friends were inside the mall when the shooting incident happened. Recounting the scary experience, she wrote, “We were coming up the escalator when we saw mass hysteria and someone yelled out “shooter”. As we ran back down we heard 3 gunshots. It was a terrifying experience. I feel grateful that my friends and I got out of it alive. And I feel horrible that 2 innocent people didn’t. I wish real life was like action films, where you could fearlessly jump into any cruel fight and save everyone. But when it happens, the only thought in your mind is to get out of there alive.”
She then added that when that day began, they were relaxed and playing with dogs. Things took a complete turn and by the end of the day, they were running from the mall shooting, drenched in rain and desperately trying to reach home safely. She then wrote how she kept thinking that they spent 10 minutes at the currency exchange before going up the escalator and that it took longer than expected. “What if we had not had problems, and spent only 5 minutes instead? Where would we have been at the time of the shooting? In the store, closer to him? I don’t know, but it makes me think that there’s some divine timing, and like the Burnt Toast Theory, something seemingly irritating could be a blessing in disguise, maybe even save your life. There are so many things we don’t know,” she wrote.
In her caption, Aaliyah mentioned that the first three pictures were clicked that morning before they headed to the mall. The next picture is a mirror selfie of Aaliyah with her 2 friends, and she said that it was minutes before the shooting happened.
Aaliyah’s Jawan co-star Ashlesha Thakur reacted to Aaliyah’s post and wrote, “Take a tight hug rn aloo!” One Netizen commented, “This must’ve been very terrifying @jhalliverse ! I can’t imagine the emotional ordeal you had to go through! So glad you’re better now,” while another comment read, “This is so terrifying. Glad that you’re safe! Love and light always.”