From brave escape to salty food, how these tourists cheated death at Pahalgam

While 26 were killed in the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, there were many stories of people at the popular tourist site who had lucky escapes due to various reasons. They ranged from leaving the site of the shootout early to a delay in lunch due the food being salty.Some of them were witnesses to the horrors that unfolded and escaped with relatively minor injuries, while others missed the shootout at the Baisaran valley by minutes. In one case it was a namesake that was killed, while in another, a delay in getting horses prevented a large group of tourists from reaching the site. Husband and son carry injured woman away from shootoutWhen the firing began at the Baisaran valley, the Roopchandani family with a group of other tourists fled into the nearby forest."When the firing started, we ran towards the forest along with several others. We did not look behind, but could hear the rattle of guns. Almost 100 rounds must have been fired. We knew there was no time to even look back," said Tilak Roopchandani, who was with his wife Simran and son Garv. His wife Simran fell twice while scampering through the forest and was unable to walk because her leg was fractured in two places. Tilak and Garv then used their shoulders to support a limping Simran and carried her through the slushy, slippery, and rocky terrain of a forested slope. 120584138"It must have been an at least 8-km trek through treacherous terrain with Simran on our shoulders. We reached a safe place and rushed towards a private hospital where the X-ray was done, but they referred us to Anantnag government medical hospital," said Tilak."The doctors plastered Simran's fractured legs, but suggested further treatment be done in Nagpur," he said.Simran stated her pain had subsided with medicines, but the fractured leg is still a concern."We returned from the jaws of death. We were just 20 minutes away from ground zero. It will take months for the trauma to heal," Tilak told TOI.A newlywed couple who had a lucky escapeWhile visuals of a distraught Himanshi at the funeral of her husband and Naval officer Lt Vinay Narwal were beamed across the country, another couple spoke of how they narrowly dodged a tragedy.Married just two months earlier, Jaipur residents Mihir and Komal Soni were at the Baisaran meadow, eating a steaming bowl of noodles and clicking selfies when the shooting began.“A sudden crack in the air. One shot, and then another,” Komal recalled, her voice barely above a whisper. “We saw a man fall. Then another. Everything around us stopped.” 120584162They escaped on horseback, adrenaline surging, breath short, whispering prayers as they fled. Locals told them not to panic, but fear had already taken root. By the time they reached the entrance to the meadow, they had just one thought — to run as fast as one could.Next day, they were on the first flight to Delhi, heading home to Jaipur. “We’ll never go back to Kashmir,” Komal said, tears welling up again. Mihir added, “We feel lucky, blessed and sad at the same time.”“The photo of Lt Vinay Narwal’s wife — for the world, it went viral. For us, it was real. We saw death come closer. We ran before it could reach us,” Komal said.Trapped in a restaurant as carnage unfoldedIt was a typically cool afternoon in Pahalgam when a group of 24 Goans, enjoying a leisurely lunch at a restaurant near the scenic Baisaran valley, heard gunshots fill the air.“We heard screaming, and could see people panicking and running towards us,” said Amit Sawant, the 51-year-old tour manager. Many ran into the restaurant they were in.The restaurant owner pulled down the shutters and told his patrons to stay put and hide. For 30 slow and excruciating minutes, they huddled together in panic. Some wept, while others prayed.“One of the girls in the room was crying because a family member was still up in Baisaran,” said a woman from Mapusa, who had travelled to Kashmir with her mother. 120584181“One man had blood all over him and I thought he had fallen from a horse,” said Sawant. “Two girls were crying for help as they ran towards me.”“I had to rescue the group. I was really scared, my heart was beating fast, but it was my responsibility to bring the tourists safely back,” said Sawant, whose wife and two children were back home.When they finally emerged from the confines of the restaurant, it was unnerving. With masked soldiers and quick response teams (QRTs) swarming the place, and unfamiliar locals everywhere, they didn’t know whom to trust.Some local taxi drivers rose to the occasion, helping the tourists hide and even used their cars to help tourists get to their bus, so they could escape to Srinagar. Meanwhile, soldiers took the injured to a nearby hospital.“I have been coming here since 2003, but this is the first time in my life that I have heard guns firing. I was really scared,” Sawant said.Salty lunch saves family from visitThe fried rice was too salty. So the 11-member Kerala family reordered their lunch while they were on the way to Pahalgam. That decision might have saved their lives.Alby George, his wife Lavanya, their children, Lavanya’s parents, several cousins and their children had seen other locations in Kashmir and were headed to Pahalgam on April 22.“We started a bit late that morning. Since we had skipped lunch the previous two days due to a hectic schedule, my husband insisted we eat before going to Baisaran, just 15 minutes away,” Lavanya recounted.They stopped at a roadside restaurant. Seeing their discomfort at eating the heavily salted food, restaurant staff offered to prepare lunch afresh. So they ordered again, leading to a fortuitous wait of nearly an hour. medium120584217After eating, the family resumed their journey. But just two km from Baisaran meadow they noticed something was wrong. They waved down a passing car and were told there was some trouble involving the central security forces and tourists.Their driver advised continuing, claiming such incidents usually get resolved quickly. But the family, sensing something serious, chose to turn back.Reflecting on the delay, Lavanya added, “It’s as if God himself caused it to save us.”A cancelled gondola ride, a namesake killed, a delay in getting horsesThe phone wouldn’t stop ringing for Santosh Jagdale, who was at the spot of the attack an hour before terrorists swooped down on tourists.“I am Santosh Laxman Jagdale. My namesake Santosh Eknath Jagdale, also from Maharashtra, was killed,” the 49-year-old juice seller from Sangli said.“After the name ‘Santosh Jagdale’ appeared in media as one of the victims, I have been getting calls throughout the night and this morning from family and friends asking about my wellbeing,” Jagdale said.Jagdale said he was there with his wife and his friends. “We had gone to the spot in a car from Pahalgam. We did not prefer ponies to go to Baisaran and left the spot of the attack an hour before the firing began, unaware that the decision to return to Pahalgam would save our lives. It was only some time after we returned to our hotel that we heard about the attack,” said Jagdale.In the case of a group of 28 tourists — from Kolhapur, Sangli, Pune, and Ratnagiri — a wait for horses delayed their trip to Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow on April 22 afternoon.“If not for the delay, we’d have been at the attack site. The list of casualties would have had our names too,” said Anil Kurane from Kolhapur. medium120584300“The horse owners had initially demanded Rs 3,200 per head. We spent 15 minutes bargaining for horses and another 15 gathering them. Just 500 metres into the ride, our driver ran up shouting, ‘There’s firing ahead—don’t go!’” The group immediately turned back.In the case of the Kolkars from Nagpur, they escaped the Pahalgam carnage by a day after their trip to Baisaran valley was rescheduled to Monday. The family was to visit the meadow on Tuesday but a cancellation of their Gondola ticket in Gulmarg led to the rescheduling.Swati Kolkar, a nursing officer at a government-run medical college and hospital, said it’s a miracle that she and her family of six are alive.“The cancelled Gondola ride saved us from bullets at Pahalgam on Tuesday,” said Swati from Srinagar airport.