‘We survived by miracle’: Mysuru man recounts horror of Pahalgam terror attack

A software engineer from Mysuru has shared how he and around 40 others narrowly escaped the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives.

Prasanna Kumar Bhat, who survived the attack along with his family, detailed the horrifying experience in a post on X.

“We survived the horror to tell the story of what can only be described as monstrous act that painted the heavenly beauty blood-red with hellfire,” Bhat wrote.

Bhat, accompanied by his wife, brother, and sister-in-law, had arrived at Baisaran valley on April 22 – a visit delayed by two days due to bad weather. They were enjoying the picturesque surroundings when, around 2:25 pm, the peaceful scene was shattered by gunfire.

“It was followed by a pin-drop silence for a minute as everyone tried to comprehend what had happened,” he recalled.

Moments later, they witnessed two bodies lying on the ground. Bhat’s brother, a senior Army officer, immediately recognised the situation as a terrorist attack.

“Then the hellfire broke – gunshots came in bursts, and chaos ensued. The crowd screamed and ran for their lives,” Bhat recounted.

As tourists fled towards the main gate – unknowingly toward the waiting terrorists – Bhat’s brother quickly assessed the threat and led their group in the opposite direction. Finding a narrow gap under a fence, they slid through and ran down a muddy slope alongside a water stream, which offered some protection from the attackers’ line of sight.

“We managed to find cover in a narrow pit under some trees, a few hundred metres away. We stayed hidden for over an hour, praying for our lives,” Bhat wrote. Throughout this time, gunshots continued to echo across the Valley.

By 3:40 pm, the arrival of an army helicopter signalled the deployment of security forces. Within minutes, army special forces secured the area and began rescuing survivors.

“The gunshots still echo in our ears, and the terror still makes my gut wrench. This will leave a permanent scar – a memory that cannot be erased,” Bhat shared.

He ended his post by saying, “I pray nobody ever has to go through such an experience of terror in their lives.”

J & K