‘Bodies Everywhere, People Ran Barefoot’: Rescuer and Pony Operator’s Chief Recounts Pahalgam Attack Horror

‘Bodies Everywhere, People Ran Barefoot’: With the emotional stories of victims coming from the Pahalgam, Jammu, and Kashmir terrorist attack, the opposite side is coming with narratives of exceptional acts of bravery and selflessness giving strength to the country to heal from the grief.

One such story of valor is that of Rayees Ahmad Bhatt, president of the Pony Owners Association in Pahalgam, who is being hailed as the "Hero of Pahalgam" for saving five injured tourists during the terror attack in Baisaran Valley.

As the reports of the attack came in, Bhatt wasted no time in putting his life in danger to save others, as corroborated by ANI news agency.

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He didn't even hesitate to get out of his office alone. "If the attackers are still here, and we get killed too, so be it," Bhatt recalled thinking, as he rushed to the site of the violence.

"When this incident happened, I was sitting in my office. At around 2:35 PM, I received a message from the General President of our union. As soon as I saw the message, I called him, but there was a network problem, so the voice wasn't clear. So, I left alone. On the way, I met two or three people, and I asked them to come along with me. In total, we became five or six people," ANI quoted Bhatt, who recalled the events.

'Bodies everywhere… people ran barefoot, covered in mud'

As soon as they reached the scene, they encountered a horrifying sight of terrified tourists running barefoot, all dirty and pleading for water. In Bhatt's own words, we started helping, calming the injured and distressed along the way; we gave them water.

"As we moved one to two kilometres uphill, we saw terrified people running down barefoot, covered in mud, in a horrible condition. They were only shouting, 'Water! Water!' So we tried to help. We broke a pipe from the water supply coming through the forest and gave them water, comforted them, and told them, 'You are in a safe zone now. Don't worry.' I handed them over to my team of four or five people and sent them back down calmly. Our first effort was to get the scared people to safety," he said.

Rayees continued on, persuading more pony riders to join the rescue. "Then we continued moving ahead. Many horsemen were coming down in fear. I convinced 5-10 of them to come back with me. On the way, people were lying in the mud. We helped them up and sent them back on horses," he said.

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It was far from easy for Bhatt to witness what awaited him when he got to the site. "The first thing I saw was a dead body right at the main gate, the entrance where tourists enter. I was shocked. I'm 35 years old, and something like this has never happened in Pahalgam before," he said. "Then, when I went inside, I saw dead bodies everywhere. There were only three or four women, clinging to us, pleading to save their husbands. With a heavy heart, we forced ourselves to go in. It was around 3:20 PM by then."

Two others joined the site, including Abdul Wahid, General President of the unions, and Sajad Ahmad Bhat, the local shawl hawker whose video went viral carrying a boy on his shoulder.

“About 10 minutes later, SHO Riaz Sahib arrived. He had been in contact with us over the phone,” Bhatt said, the number of tourists that day was low because of landslides and roadblocks.

According to Bhatt, the police did not arrive in a timely manner. "There is no motorable road up to that point. They had to run there on foot. We locals know the shortcuts through the jungle, so we arrived quickly using the shortest path. Others don't know the shortcut, so they took the longer route and got there 10 minutes later."

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