'Stayed quiet to pretend we're dead': Reasi terror survivor recounts horror

Eyewitnesses narrated the incident as an orchestrated chaos, detailing how the terrorists, numbering between six to seven, unleashed terror on them from all sides of the road

Survivors of the Reasi attack on Monday recounted their harrowing experience, revealing how they resorted to playing dead as terrorists continued their onslaught even after their bus plunged into a deep gorge.

The targeted bus, ferrying Hindu pilgrims en route from Jammu and Kashmir’s Shiv Khori to Vaishno Devi, became the scene of horror as terrorists unleashed a barrage of gunfire from multiple directions. Tragically, nine lives were lost, with 33 others sustaining injuries in the assault.

Recalling the terrifying sequence of events, survivors described a relentless hail of bullets raining down on the bus for what felt like an eternity, with one witness recounting the onslaught lasting around 20 minutes.

 

“After having darshan at Mata Vaishno Devi, I went to Shiv Khori. While returning from there, after 4-5 km, bullets were fired on our bus. The firing did not stop even after our bus fell into the ditch. The driver was shot and then some people were also injured in the firing,” a survivor told news agency ANI.

Echoing similar sentiments, another survivor affirmed the relentless assault, narrating how the attackers showed no mercy even after the vehicle was incapacitated.

“I went for darshan of Shiv Khori. While returning, some people opened fire on our bus. Later, the bus fell into a ditch. Several people were injured in the incident. The firing did not stop even after the bus fell. I think there were 2-3 terrorists there. My son saw a man firing on our bus from behind,” he added.

As the bus plummeted into the gorge, victims resorted to a desperate ploy, maintaining eerie silence in a bid to deceive the terrorists into believing they had succumbed to the violence.

In the aftermath of the attack, security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have launched a sweeping cordon-and-search operation, determined to hunt down the terrorists involved in the dastardly attack.