CHENNAI: As many as 115 TN tourists who were caught in the Pahalgam crossfire are returning to Chennai in three different batches taking the air and rail routes.
This includes a group of 69 people, including five children, who will return in two separate flights – 19 on late Wednesday night and 50 on early Thursday. They will fly from Srinagar to Chennai via Hyderabad. The 69 people had landed in Kashmir on Sunday, two days before the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Forty-six TN tourists in Srinagar will return to Chennai from Delhi by train (on Tamil Nadu Express). They are expected to reach on Friday morning. P Subramaniam, who is part of the group returning by flight, told TNIE, “Our group was 20 km from the place where the attack took place. We were planning to visit Baisaran after lunch on Tuesday but our local trip supervisor got the shocking news before we reached there in our rental cars and took us back to our hotel rooms.”
Subramaniam said that Balachandru, who is currently admitted to a hospital there, was also with them in the car when he heard the news of the attack.
He then complained of chest pain and was taken to a hospital. Balachandru’s wife has stayed back with him, he added. The trip was arranged by a private association headquartered in Chennai which has members across the state. Subramaniam said that all the members of the group are natives of various places such as Madurai, Thirunchengode and Dharmapuri.
Subramaniam, along with 49 others, will land in Chennai on Thursday morning, while the others would reach late Wednesday night. Balachandru is at present undergoing treatment with two others from Tamil Nadu – A Parameshwar (31) and Shantnu (83).