Pahalgam terror attack: felt like scenes from a movie, say lucky tourists from karnataka who hit home base

“We were supposed to leave on Tuesday morning, but the tour agency said buses weren’t ready and we’d leave only by evening,” Misha recalled, adding that the delay saved them. It was not

until later that day, when their internet connection returned, that they found out what had happened. “We had multiple missed calls from relatives. That’s how we found out about the attack,”

she said. Misha said the family had originally planned to head back on April 26, however, after the attack, they immediately contacted the helpline set up for tourists and made arrangements

to return early. ‘WERE 5 KM FROM TERROR SCENE, FELT LIKE A MOVIE’ Kush and Kriti, cousins from Bengaluru, had travelled to Kashmir with 20 family members, hoping to show their grandparents

the beauty of the valley. But just as they were returning from Betaab Valley in Pahalgam, they learnt about the terror attack nearby. “We were only 5 km from the spot, but had no idea what

had happened until we reached our resort,” Kush said. Soon after, the area was placed under heavy restrictions. “There was a complete lockdown. We couldn’t take our grandparents out anywhere

— curfew was imposed, helicopters were hovering above, and there were military checks. We couldn’t believe it was the same place, it felt like a scene out of a movie,” said Kush. SOUDHA

SECURITY OFFICER AMONG TOURISTS Among the tourists was Ravikumar, a police officer attached to Vidhana Soudha security, who had spent a good amount of money planning a holiday with his wife

and child. However, his trip took an unexpected turn when he landed in Kashmir on the day of the terror attack. What was meant to be a relaxing family vacation was abruptly aborted as upon

arrival, he was told it was unsafe to stay and was asked to return. LOCALS CAME TO RESCUE Many tourists recalled that despite the language barrier, local residents extended immense help

during the crisis. While most of the tourists were in Gulmarg and other parts of Kashmir — far from Srinagar where their flights were scheduled — they were still able to make their way back,

with the support of local tour guides and drivers. They mentioned that even with a statewide curfew in place, locals helped them reach bus stands and arranged transport to Srinagar. Chetan

R, Commissioner, Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, told TNIE that the government is still in touch with the Anantnag district DIG to know how many tourists from the state are still

in J&K. He also mentioned that the people there have their flights booked either to Amritsar or Delhi.