Mandi, June 9 (PTI): For the ill-fated group of students of a Hyderabad-based engineering college merrily taking photos on the banks of Beas river in Himachal Pradesh, tragedy struck in a matter of couple of minutes as they were washed away in the swirling waters which suddenly rose several feet.
The gush of water turned out to be a tide of death, recounted surviving students. Many of them, particularly girls, were seen in a state of panic in Himachal Pradesh, where they are accommodated in lodges.
24 students were washed away on Sunday evening in river Beas near Thalot on Manali-Kiratpur Highway, 40 kms from Mandi. Five bodies were recovered on Monday.
The students were caught unaware by the sudden discharge of water in the river from the reservoir of 126 MW Larji project.
Even as rescue and relief operations were on at the incident spot, the surviving students had a harrowing tale to narrate on the tragedy.
"It all happened in a matter of only 2-3 minutes," said one of the students.
Ravi Kumar, a student who was part of the group from the Hyderabad college, said, "I tried to alert my friends... I ran towards my friends but by the water level had shot up."
19-year-old TV Suharsha, said their group had 48 students, three faculty members and a child of one of the faculty members.
"It was around 5.30-6pm on the third day of our tour and we all wanted to stop for a break.
"We were all sitting on the rocks, taking photos. There was a big rock in the middle of the river and everyone wanted to reach to the top of that rock. Some made their way to it by stepping on a series of small rocks.
"After about 10 minutes, the water level started rising. I was upstream and I noticed it first. I began screaming, trying to alert everyone as I rushed back," a shocked Suharsa said.