Ashwini Kumar Choubey

New Delhi, June 21: Lying on a hospital bed here, former Bihar minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey looks shaken and feeble. He, along with his close relatives and others, underwent a traumatic experience in Kedarnath where they had a close shave as torrential rains and flash floods caught thousands unaware, killing many of them.

Family members of the minister now recount the horror story and how they survived the deluge amid chaos, death and destruction. The veteran BJP leader lost two of his relatives and five others from his group.

“He is deeply traumatised and cries quietly. As we went without food for four days, all of us are really weak. We had gone there for pilgrimage and it turned into such a nightmare that all of us will remain scarred for the rest of our lives,” said Choubey’s elder son Aviral Saswat, who is also undergoing treatment in the same private hospital in Delhi.

A senior doctor treating Choubey, 57, said he would take a few days to recover fully and is being tested for suspected lung and stomach infection.

Choubey, who held the health portfolio in the Nitish Kumar government till the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP, had reached Kedarnath with nine family members, three security guards, a family priest and an aide.

“We reached there on June 15 and it went well the first day. Next day, we were planning to return but the rains started. My father talked to the district magistrate there and requested him to arrange for our return. But by evening, the rains were so heavy that it was not possible to leave. Around 10pm, when we were about to retire for the night at the guesthouse, we saw water entering inside. Horrified, we ran for safety but two of the kids with us, my son and my nephew, started floating but we somehow managed to pick them up. Outside there was flood water all around, so we ran towards the temple and took shelter in its sanctum sanctorum. It was no less than pralay that we have read about in religious scriptures,” Aviral said.

He further said, “In a few minutes around 800-900 people from various parts gathered there. Later in the night there was a cloud burst. The water reached a height of 10-12 feet and entered the temple, bringing with it huge boulders. Many people were hit by boulders and instantly died and some drowned. But within a few minutes, the water level receded and those of us who were alive gathered dead bodies, stacked them and stood on top of them to survive as there still was several feet high water inside the temple. Two of my relatives — uncle Subodh Mishra and aunt Ruby Mishra — also died. We carried our kids on our shoulders lest they fall in the water.”

This went on for three days with flash floods incessantly entering the temple and killing many. “There were around 800-900 people at the start but when rescue teams finally arrived on June 19, only about 150 people were alive. We had survived on no food but only mud water that we drank when thirst became unbearable. First, we were taken to Guptkashi and then to Dehradun.”

Choubey and Aviral reached Delhi on Thursday with BJP national president Rajnath Singh, who had gone for an aerial survey of the state, while the rest of the family came to Delhi today before taking a flight for Patna.

Choubey’s security personnel, priest and aide are missing. In all, around 600 people from the state are reported missing in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.