Team Herald
PANJIM: A tour manager from Goa, who is still stranded in Srinagar along with 23 tourists from the State, narrated to O Heraldo how they had a close encounter with terror. Narrating the frightening experience over phone, in a trembling voice, Amit Samant, the tour manager said, “We went to Chandanwari and from there we were supposed to visit Baisaran point. When we were having lunch, we saw a man running down with blood coming out from his hand. We thought that he might have been injured after falling from a horse. But soon we heard sounds of firing. We pulled down the shutters of the restaurant where we were having lunch.”
He went on to add: “Then we saw many people fleeing. Ambulances arrived and started taking injured to hospitals. Though I have organised many tours, this is the first time that I am experiencing something like this. Everyone was traumatised. We somehow managed to reach our vehicles with the help of locals. Then by bus we managed to reach Srinagar. There were a lot of ambulances and vehicles of the Army. We then realised that we were hardly a kilometre away from the spot where the incident took place,”
he said.
According to Samant, the tour party comprised five kids and nine couples from places including Margao, Corlim and Mapusa. It still sends a chill down their spine when they think what would have happened if they had reached Baisaran a little earlier.
A lady tourist, who is in the group, said, “We were rescued by the locals and the guide of the tour operator. We safely reached Srinagar last night.”
Mahesh Mhambre, another tour operator, said, “I had made arrangement for eight couples who were on a tour to Jammu and Kashmir. They were supposed to visit Pahalgam but when I came to know about the terror strike, I requested them to stay put in Srinagar. They did not go to Pahalgam and returned to Goa on Wednesday as the authorities had arranged additional flights and tickets for safe departure of the tourists.”