On 21 May, arrested demonstrators were freed, and their stories too 3,300 could then be told. There were emotional scenes at the Lard Yao prison as about 1,000 detainees were reunited with their relatives. Thousands of people flocked to the Royal Hotel. So large was the crowd, that at 5pm the hotel was forced to close its doors, leaving the curious to peer through its windows "Not for sale!", a food vendor shouted to a group of soldiers. Nearby, about 60 people laid a black wreath at the base of the Democracy Monument, and encircled the monument with a long black cloth. One man reported that his five-months pregnant wife had been shot. "I turned and saw a soldier pump bullet into her head.