‘Friends were 20ft away...’: Survivor recounts narrow escape from flash floods in Dharali

Furgan Ahmed was sitting in his car in Dharali when he heard the hills rumble.

- HT Correspondent

Floodwaters were barreling into Dharali and he had seconds to decide — wait for his friends, who were buying food, or drive. The welder from Uttar Pradesh floored the accelerator pedal, leaving death behind, but carrying with him a mountain of guilt.

The 31-year-old was sitting in his Maruti Alto, parked at the entrance of the Dharali market and three of his friends were barely 20 feet from the black hatchback.

“Suddenly, I saw people running past. I realised something major had happened. I screamed at my friends and told them to run, because they wouldn't be able to make it to the car. I sped away when I realised the waters were metres away,” he said on Friday, three days after the carnage that rocked the cluster of villages tucked away in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand.