Calcutta, May 31: A group of tourists from Bengal would be shuddering in Srinagar tonight every time they remember how close they had come to suffering serious injury or worse.

Their bus had been just in front of the one which, on its way back from Sonamarg, came under a militant attack near the Dal Lake.

“Our bus, too, had returned after a trip to Sonamarg and was on the way to the hotel,” said Yoginder Bali, manager of Golden Travels, the Chandigarh company that had rented out one of its luxury buses for the tourists from Bengal, over the telephone.

“Our driver, Nindi, called us after the blast to say he and his passengers were safe.”

“He said the road leading to the hotel had a no-entry sign and he had to take a turn when, suddenly, there was a loud bang.”

In the by-lanes of Kasba in Calcutta, Bodhisattwa Sinha was struggling to control his anxiety. Sinha knows his cousin Sujoy Dutta ? a chartered accountant with UCO bank ? and his wife Sumana have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries in Srinagar. But he has no news of Sujoy’s parents Swaraj and Bithi.

“They had left on May 22 and were to return on June 7. Sujoy’s father had called this afternoon to say they had been enjoying their trip very much. Suddenly, the news channels began beaming the news of the attack.”