Quick thinking helped six tourists from TN cheat death

Chennai: What was meant to be a dream holiday amid Kashmir turned into a brush with death for Syed Usman and his five friends. The 45-year-old from Gingee, Tamil Nadu, was at the foothills of the scenic Baisaran slopes near Pahalgam when the crack of gunfire shattered the alpine calm. Shouts of ‘Khatra! Khatra!' (danger) echoed through the valley."Our horse handler screamed, Bhago!—run for your life," Usman recalled, still visibly shaken. Acting on the handler's quick advice, Usman and his friends jumped into a ditch and ran for safety— a split-second decision that may have saved their lives.Usman was part of a six-member group from Tamil Nadu that narrowly escaped the terrorist firing at Baisaran on Tuesday. "What began as a scenic holiday turned into a terrifying experience. We were on tour since Saturday—Gulmarg, then Srinagar, and reached Anantnag on Sunday night. On Tuesday morning, around 10 a.m., we went to Pahalgam," he said.The group rode on six horses to Baisaran, a popular meadow, by 12:45 p.m. "We wanted to see the snow—it was accessible from there. We spent some time and began our descent by 2 p.m. The entry and exit points are the same, and over 300 horses were crowding the trail, with slush up to our knees," he recalled."Our handler asked us to come through a narrow alley where he brought our horses. Suddenly, we heard gunfire. Two of my friends were still on horseback. At first, I thought it was fireworks. But people began screaming Khatra! Khatra! and the handler yelled Bhago! We ran."Usman said they just passed the area where the shooting took place. "We crossed the very spot where the victims were earlier having fun. It could have been us."He immediately contacted the Tamil Nadu House helpline. "In a few hours, a car arrived at our hotel. By Thursday evening, I was at the airport, waiting to fly back home. My family was worried," he added.