Kin cried for help as victims lay in pool of blood: Witnesses

Pahalgam, April 22

Shrieks for help pierced the skies of Baisaran meadows in this south Kashmir resort as more than a dozen tourists lay motionless in pool of blood following one of the deadliest terror attacks on civilians in recent years in J&K.

Heavily armed terrorists walked out of the woods of Baisaran, a meadow atop a hill here, and surrounded a group of around 40 tourists. The terrorists started firing on the tourists indiscriminately, leaving multiple people dead.

Eyewitnesses claimed that as soon as the bullets started flying, the handful of locals who earn a livelihood from tourism ran for safety, while the tourists virtually became “sitting ducks” for the ultras. “My husband was shot in the head… he was shot for not being a Muslim. Seven others are injured in the attack,” a woman survivor said over phone.

The woman, who did not identify herself, pleaded for help in evacuating the injured to the hospital.

“Bhaiyya please mere husband ko bacha lo (Brother, please save my husband),” the woman pleaded frantically with this reporter.

As the famed meadows are only accessible by foot or ponies, authorities had to summon choppers for the evacuation of the injured, officials said. However, before the helicopter arrived at the scene, some of the injured were brought down by local people on their ponies.

Local tourist guides and ponywallahs consoled the survivors even as they summoned more people to evacuate the injured tourists on their shoulders to the nearest motorable point.

As soon as the news of the attack broke out, the roads and streets of Pahalgam wore a deserted look as the tourists, who had come in numbers, left the resort town to safer places.

A video of the Pahalgam attack site emerged showing several people bleeding and lying motionless on the ground while women tourists were wailing and looking for their near and dear ones. Some were too stunned to react and were being helped by locals.

J & K