SRINAGAR, OCT 1: Residents of the Muslim-dominated Kargil town thought that the world had virtually come to an end when about 40 to 50 mortar shells fell on buildings, shops and roads yesterday afternoon.Mohammad Akbar, a shopkeeper, said he was told by a revenue official and a police officer in T B Hospital, Kargil, that 30 people had died and a number of buildings damaged in the shelling from across the border.However, officials said 17 people died and 20 were injured in the Pak shelling and indiscriminate firing on the town.Darshan lal, a 30-year-old school teacher, now admitted to the state SMHS hospital here, said he was teaching students of class 10, when a mortar shell hit the Suru Valley Public High School building in main town around 1400 hrs.He and two girl students in the class were injured. He saw a dozen students of the nursery and other classes lying in an injured condition, three of whom later died, he said.There was no doctor in the hospital and the para-medical staff present bandaged the injured without administering any medicine.Mohammad Akbar said he was attending to his customers when he saw fireballs landing from the sky. He said ``Before I could guess what these fireballs were, I heard a loud explosion rocking the town. Loud cries for help emanated as the people rushed about looking for a safe haven.A three-storey building collapsed before Akbar's eyes after it was hit by at least three mortars. He said that he did not know if anybody was inside the building.He said he saw the bodies of two bus conductors blown into pieces and three others who sustained injuries when mortar shells fell near a traffic police post in the main chowk of Kargil.PAs the shelling continued, men and women with children on their shoulders were seen scurrying for safety. A majority of them hurried to Mingi and Taspan about 10 km away, as no vehicles were seen plying in view of the enveloping smoke.Akbar, who accompanied his injured brother Mohammad Ishaq, who was airlifted by helicopter from Kargil to Srinagar, said he and two others were among the last to leave the town after the shelling stopped at 1700 hrs.``As we took shelter in a drain, we saw all business establishments open and the road deserted,'' he said.Akbar, a resident of Sultanpora Pattan in Kashmir, said he was running his shop for the past 15 years without any incident. This is the first time such shelling has taken place in the town.He said, ``I do not understand why Pakistan targeted civilian population when they could have easily targeted the Indian Army installations as they are on the top of a hill.''
