India, May 7 -- The roar of shells outside was deafening, its terrifying pitch reverberating around the neighbourhood. Sanjeev Kumar, 48, watched the television relay news of mortar shells hitting his home town of Poonch. Hours earlier, in the dead of night, India had hit nine terror targets across the border in Pakistan, retaliating for the deaths of 26 people in the Pahalgam terror strike.

Quickly, Kumar made a decision. The family had to leave town. He corralled his son Vihaan and wifeRashmiSudan into the car and set off for Jammu, hoping to seek safety in the Union Territory's winter capital.

It was not to be. Around 10.30am, as the family was driving through the Khanetar area on the outskirts of Poonch, a shell exploded near the ca...