Landslide reroute saves 40 tourists from Pahalgam terror attack

A last-minute change of plans turned into a life-saving decision for 40 tourists who narrowly escaped the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. The group was initially set to visit the famous meadows in Pahalgam but had to alter their itinerary due to a landslide that blocked the Kashmir highway two days earlier.

V S Anand and his wife, Ratnam, a couple from Visakhapatnam, shared their harrowing near-miss with TOI. “Had we stuck to our original plan, we would have been in Pahalgam during the attack,” said Anand. “It’s nothing short of a miracle. God had other plans for us.”

The group, which included travellers from Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, began their seven-day North India tour on April 19. After visiting Vaishno Devi in Katra, they were supposed to head to Srinagar and Pahalgam on April 22. However, heavy rain caused a cloudburst and landslides that blocked the highway, prompting their travel company to reroute them to Amritsar and then to Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

Tour guide Ashish Singhal confirmed the switch, saying the decision was made after relentless rainfall. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to cancel his planned visit to Srinagar due to the weather.

Reflecting on their escape, Ratnam said, “It feels like we were saved by an unseen force,” while Anand expressed his gratitude, acknowledging their narrow escape from disaster.

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