Malaysians stranded in Kashmir floods used chili sauce to attract rescuers

Fifteen Malaysians who flew in here today from India resorted to using chili sauce to write the word 'Malaysia' on a towel on a hotel rooftop to attract help while stranded in Jammu & Kashmir due the massive floods that hit the Himalayan state.

A member of the group, Farisha Elaina Abdul Hanif, said she and 15 family members and friends, were forced to sit on the roof of the four-storey hotel in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu & Kashmir, in the cold for several hours on Sept 7 to escape the floods.

Farisha Elaina, 23, and her entourage, who were there for the wedding of an elder sister, were stranded for nine days from Sept 6 in the area and did whatever they could to attract rescuers while on the roof of the hotel.

"We were forced to think of various ways to attract attention to save ourselves, including using chili sauce to write the word 'Malaysia' on a towel. We also hung shirts with the pattern of the Malaysian flag," she said when met after arriving at the KL International Airport (KLIA) here. Other than her group, another with the newlyweds, landed at the KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2), also via a Malindo Air flight, today.

Narrating her experience, Farisha Elaina said their hotel, fronting the Dall Dam, was inundated when it burst following continuous downpour.

"We fought strong currents and fled to the rooftop to save ourselves. Within a short time, the initially chest-level floodwaters rose to the roof. We were later rescued using boats," she said.

Farisha Elaina said the ordeal did not stop there but they had to vie with about 5,000 locals to board army trucks to relocate to a safer area.

She said they eventually boarded a helicopter for the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, after several days in the region.

Meanwhile, Farisha Elaina's mother, Datin Norzam Aini Hamzah, 59, said the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi did an excellent job in helping rescue the groups.