A NSW family have told of the "scariest night of our life" and how they were forced to walk with their hands up across an empty casino after a mass shooting in Las Vegas.
At least 50 people are dead and more than 200 wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman and daughter Maddy Aspinall, 14, from Grafton in NSW, were in Las Vegas for one night only after a dance academy tour in the US had finished.
They rode in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon on Sunday afternoon and then returned to their hotel, about two blocks from the shooting scene.
The family had headed out to see the city in the evening and witnessed a rush of people running down the street and police and ambulances swarming.
Mr Comerford said it took them about an hour to get safely back to their hotel and they bunkered down in the convention centre with other guests.
"This was supposed to be a one night special stop because we'd never been to Las Vegas before ... we were planning to live it up for one night and we've had probably the scariest night of our life," Mr Comerford told AAP on the phone.
Mr Comerford said Maddy had coped well with the ordeal.
"That is until we got to the hotel and the police had us walk through the empty casino with our hands above our head and it became very, very real for her then," he said.
"That's when she got very upset. She's been a brave girl."
The family has a flight booked to New York on Monday afternoon and plans to continue the rest of their holiday.
Australia's Consulate General in LA is making urgent inquiries with local authorities to determine if any Australians have been injured or killed.
"If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the Las Vegas area, you should attempt to contact them directly," a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman told AAP.
People unable to make contact with loved ones should phone the DFAT emergency hotline on 1300 555 135 or +61 2 6261 3305.
