Visitors offered shelter in residences, mosque

As heavy snowfall crippled life in the Kashmir Valley, residents in Ganderbal district demonstrated remarkable hospitality by offering shelter to stranded tourists, providing them with refuge in homes and a mosque.

The snowfall, which began on Friday afternoon, intensified overnight, accumulating on roads and rendering them slippery, causing vehicles to become stranded at multiple locations. In the Gund area along the Srinagar-Sonmarg road, a group of tourists from Punjab found themselves trapped, forced to spend the night in a mosque.

“Our vehicles were stranded and we couldn’t travel, but locals helped us and saved us. We are extremely thankful to them,” said a tourist.

A video capturing the tourists spending the night inside the mosque went viral on social media, quickly gaining widespread attention, with many people praising the locals for their generosity.

Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said it was “heartening to see Kashmiris opening their Masjids and homes to stranded tourists amidst heavy snowfall.”

President of Jamia Mosque Gund in Kangan, Ghulam Mohammed Pandit, said, "In the mosque, we accommodated around 150 people. Locals also took them to their homes, where more than 250 people were accommodated."

He said locals felt it was their responsibility to provide help to the tourists.