'Just 20 minutes separated us from death': Nagpur couple survives Pahalgam terror attack by a whisker

NAGPUR/AKOLA: A Nagpur business couple, Tilak and Simran Roopchandani, miraculously survived the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam on Tuesday, where at least 26 others died. "Just 20 minutes separated us from death," said the petrified couple, while recounting the horror.
“We cheated death by a whisker. We had just left Baisaran Valley, when we heard gunshots. Everyone was trying to escape. We were just 20 minutes away from the tragedy spot. We did not look back and just ran,” Roopchandani told TOI. The exit gate was small, only four feet and it was jammed with fleeing tourists, he said, narrating how he managed to escape with his wife and son. “My wife suffered a fracture in her leg. I was just worried about their safety,” said Roopchandani, a resident of Dayanand Park, Jaripatka.
Simran, who’s recuperating in a govt-run hospital in Anantnag, said, “People were shouting firing ho rahi hai (firing is on) and there was a near stampede as everyone ran for cover. We did not look back at all. There were children as well. We were finding it difficult to breathe.”
Another 31 tourists from Akola in Vidarbha, currently touring Kashmir were confirmed safe. The group comprised 27 senior citizens and four children were traveling from Sonmarg towards Pahalgam, when terrorists struck. Reacting swiftly, tour organisers Pankaj Sahu and Sapre halted the journey and redirected the group back to a hotel in Srinagar. “Tourists from Akola have been accommodated at a hotel in Srinagar for the night,” said Sahu. To ease concerns of worried families back home in Akola, the organisers also released a video message of the family from Srinagar.