'Bodies everywhere… people ran barefoot': Rescuer, pony operator body's chief, recounts Pahalgam attack horror

Amid heartbreaking stories of the victims of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, tales of stirring act of courage and selflessness coming out parallelly are giving the people of the country strength to recover from the grief.

One such story of courage is of Rayees Ahmad Bhatt, president of the Pony Owners Association in Pahalgam, who is being hailed as the "Hero of Pahalgam" after rescuing five injured tourists during a terror attack in Baisaran Valley. Pahalgam terror attack news live updates

Bhatt sprang into action upon learning of the attack, putting his own life at risk to save others, according to ANI news agency.

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Venturing out alone from his office, he responded without hesitation. "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 they approached the scene, they encountered a harrowing sight—terrified tourists running barefoot, covered in mud, and pleading for water. Bhatt recalled offering aid, ensuring the injured and distressed were calmed and hydrated.

"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 Bhatt continued pressing forward, convincing more pony riders to join him in the rescue effort. "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.

Bhatt encountered disturbing scenes on reaching the spot. "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."

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Joining Bhatt at the site were two others, including Abdul Wahid, the General President of the unions, and Sajad Ahmad Bhat, a local shawl hawker whose video carrying a boy on his shoulder went viral online.

“About 10 minutes later, SHO Riaz Sahib arrived. He had been in contact with us over the phone,” Bhatt noted, mentioning that tourist numbers were low that day due to road closures and landslides.

When asked about the police response, Bhatt explained the delay. "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."