The victims and eyewitnesses in the Kashmir attack describe the scenes of chaos and terror

At approximately two o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, when moderate sunlight and gentle colds drew the Bayzran Valley in Kashmir, and two new married couples, Chopham Duvidi and Isaia Bandy, they installed rented horses and installed a pleasant l at a l atmosphere.

They wanted to capture what they heard was a magical view: a fertile meadow of pine trees, with the hemalaya tops covered with the sparkling snow in the distance.

Less than an hour later, Mr. Duvidi had died.

Among the 26 people were killed by the militants who approached a group of tourist attractions and then opened the fire. 17 others were injured.

The massacre, which took place near Paalgam, a town in the southern part of the Indian director Kashmir, was one of the worst attacks on Indian civilians for decades.

It was a reminder that the long -awaited area by India and Pakistan is still vulnerable to the attack even after the Indian government moved to bring its part of Kashmir more firmly under its control in 2019, which brought years of relative calm and tourism boom.

The victims, eyewitnesses, and those who heard direct accounts from family members described scenes of chaos and terror. The blood leaked from the bodies that were punctured by bullets as people begged their lives. A video of the scene showed two other married couples, the woman in the Tan jacket, sitting without mobility on the ground next to her dead husband, her wrists decorate the red and white bracelets that many new Hindu brides traditionally. She was married for less than a week.

When Wassim Khan, a member of the Tourism Police Force in the region, moved away from Marj on Tuesday to perform the ministers in a nearby course, “People were making.”

After about 10 minutes, at 2:47 pm, Mr. Khan said, he heard the voice of what I think was tourists from tourists. “Then I saw three people lying in a pool of blood,” he said.

He said that he helped raise the injured on horses, with the help of the “dowry”, or the guides who provide horseback to tourists, so that they could be transferred to safety. Witnesses said that people rushed down on foot or on horses.

Mr. Duvidi and Mrs. Bandy, who got married in February, were sitting at a table along the edge of the Marj, where the sellers sold tea and snacks, and dug to the instant pasta made by Maggie, a famous brand, according to the groom’s cousin Surab.

He built a copy of the events based on what Mrs. Bandy said her father, who was part of their travel group. Many men approached the uniform of the spouses and asked if they were Muslims, which led to a hot exchange. It was not long before, attackers shot Mr. Duvidi, but they told his wife that they would not kill her. “Return and tell your government what happened,” they said.

Most of the dead and wounded were ordinary people who are directed to Kashmir, a stunning view of that made more clear in the minds of many Indians because tourism was restricted there for decades.

Among the visitors on Tuesday are groups of families and friends, as well as young couples. A group of 17 sales delegates was among the tourists, with a company supported by all wages to achieve their sales goals. They were on horseback, not far from the Marj, when I heard their evidence about shooting and fled, and giving up their horses and agents, according to Suman Bhatt, a member of the group.

Mrs. Bhatt said that they had arrived at the site soon, but the group decided to have some ice cream. “Praise be to God, we stopped ice cream,” she said.

Kashmir has a long history of violence arising from the Department of India and Pakistan to two separate countries in 1947. Both countries demand the region and have fought several wars on it.

The boundaries between the Indian and Pakistan, which is managing Kashmir, are largely. India has dealt with a separatist movement in Kashmir, which accuses Pakistan of excitement. In 2019, India canceled the semi -government situation in the region, a step that the government claimed to help stimulate development in Kashmir and fully integrate it into the Indian economy.

Since then, it has made a mixture of growing middle layer income, promoting by government tourism councils and high temperatures in many parts of India, the wonderful cashmere seasons more attractive. On Tuesday afternoon, when New Delhi reached 104 degrees, Blogam, which is the city closest to the Bizarran Valley, is about 65 degrees.

“It is said that it is the sky on the ground, so anyone wants to go,” said Conal Gonbut, whose parents were in the area on Tuesday.

After the attack, Mr. Gunbote, 31, managed to locate his mother, although she was very shocked by talking. But his father was missing.

On Wednesday morning, when Mr. Gunbote arrived in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, from the city of Bon, another Indian city, his father found a coffin in the hospital, waiting to get to know him.

Mr. Gunbote said that his mother, Sangeta Gunbote, told him that the attackers did not seem to be in a hurry.

He said: “My mother said that the terrorists came to free time, as they wandered and ask people their names.”

He added: “They took their time to kill, but there was no security for miles.”

Mr. Gunbote said that his parents love to travel and that they were their first trip to the area. Just hours before the attack, his father shared photos of holidays with Mr. Gun Bot’s wife. “She was about to contact him in the afternoon, but then everything went,” he said.

By late on Tuesday, tourists were from Pahalgam, leaving hotel and tourism organizers on business loss. On Wednesday, dozens of vehicles loaded with luggage on their roofs on the road from Paalgam to Srinagar, where trips were added to Mumbai and Delhi.

Nearly 7,000 tourists were staying in Paalgam at the time of the attack, but most of them have now left, said Mushtaq Paalgami, President of Paalgam Hotels Association and MOST House.

“Fear was so strong that by morning, the hotels were almost empty, although the local residents who served them to stay in their homes,” said Mr. Bahmame.