''Death stared at our faces for many long hours'': Eyewitness

Srinagar, Oct 5 (UNI) Employees of a State Bank of India branch in Dashnami Akhara building here can't believe they are still alive.

They had lost all hopes when 'fidayeen' (members of a suicide squad) tried to storm the complex, housing the holy mace of Lord Shiva, yesterday morning.

Death stared at their faces for ''endlessly long'' hours.

Fayaz Ahmed, a bank employee, recalled the memories of those bone-chilling moments. A slight mention of the incident still sends shivers down his spine. It was life as usual for him and his colleagues till 1055 hrs yesterday when the fidayeen struck.

''The bank was full of customers and we were busy as usual dealing with them. Suddenly, we heard the sound of a powerful blast followed by heavy gunfire...and then there were screams all around.

Our panic buttons had been pressed,'' he added.

A visibly-shaken Ahmed said even a bullet fired seemed a blast for them. ''Every time a bullet was fired, we thought it was a blast. The sound was deafening,'' he added.

Being Ramzan, Ahmed said he and his Muslim colleagues were fasting. ''We felt so thirsty. At one point of time, many of us thought of breaking the fast mid-way, but the determination and the will helped us to overcome that thirst and we managed to sustain without water for several hours.'' Ahmed said there seemed to be no end to their ordeal as the gun-battle continued to rage on. ''We thought this will go on for days. Suddenly, we saw a ray of hope as there was a lull in the firing and we decided to come out. We went from the back gate which to our ill-luck was closed. So, our priority was to get it opened first. Somehow, we managed and finally came out in the evening.'' He said all the employees and customers thanked God and their stars to be alive after a close brush with death.

Similarly, Parvez Ahmed Ganai, a salesman, was attending to a customer at a footwear showroom in the busy Lal Chowk area when he suddenly heard the sound of a blast followed by heavy gunfire and for a few seconds he thought a bullet was going to hit him.

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