Tourists rush back home as panic grips resort town

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Waves of tourists started rushing out of Pahalgam on Tuesday after a terrorist attack in the south Kashmir valley killed 26, with hotels and resorts emptying out within hours of the strike, as people scrambled out in cars, bikes and buses for fear of their lives.

- Ashiq Hussain and Vrinda Tulsian

Local residents and hoteliers said the attack threatens to snuff out the wave of tourism that began to crest only three years ago, after being beset by fears of terrorism for years.

Rakesh Sharma, who was on a trip from Delhi to the Valley with his family since Saturday, decided to cut short his trip immediately.

But his exit was complicated by the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, which has been off limits since Sunday, owing to heavy rains in Ramban district of Jammu. "I don't care whether others stay or not. I don't want to take any chances. I just want to return home," he said.

Their tour operator decided to shift them to Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir.