Survivors played dead as terrorists kept firing after bus fell into gorge in Kashmir

The survivors of the Reasi terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday told the authorities and the media that terrorists kept firing at them even after their bus fell into a deep gorge, forcing them to play dead.

Narrating their harrowing ordeal, they said the terrorists wanted to kill every person on the bus, which was full of Hindu pilgrims heading to Vaishno Devi from Jammu and Kashmir's Shiv Khori.

Nine people are confirmed dead and 33 are injured.

According to the authorities, the terrorists opened fire on the bus from more than one direction. The bus fell into the gorge after the driver of the vehicle was hit by a bullet.

One eyewitness told India Today that the firing on the mangled bus went on for around 20 minutes.

"After having darshan at Mata Vaishno Devi, I went to Shiv Khori. While returning from there, after 4-5 km, bullets were fired on our bus. The firing did not stop even after our bus fell into the ditch. The driver was shot and then some people were also injured in the firing," a survivor told ANI.

Another survivor confirmed that the terrorists kept on firing.

"I went for darshan of Shiv Khori. While returning, some people opened fire on our bus. Later, the bus fell into a ditch. Several people were injured in the incident. The firing did not stop even after the bus fell. I think there were 2-3 (terrorists) there. My son saw a man firing on our bus from behind," he added.

An eyewitness told the channel that 6-7 terrorists had attacked the bus as bullets were fired from all the sides of the road.

When the bus fell into the gorge and the terrorists kept firing, the occupants maintained silence to trick them into believing that they were dead, the eyewitness adds.

The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have launched a massive cordon-and-search operation to hunt down the terrorists involved in the dastardly attack.