Residents of Malbazar, a town located on the gateway of the Dooars with tea estates all around, were in a state of shock over the loss of lives in Wednesday evening’s flash flood in the Mal river.

A pall of gloom descended on the town when the bodies of the eight victims reached on Thursday. “This year’s Durga Puja will be remembered for years, but for this unfortunate incident,” said Samar Biswas, a senior resident of the town.

Instead of exchanging customary Bijoya greetings, people were busy discussing Wednesday’s tragedy. Some, like Debasish Saha, recounted their miraculous escape on Wednesday when the flash flood took many unawares.

Saha, a resident of Courtpara of ward 12 of the town, had been to the immersion ghat of Mal river with his wife Dipsha, their son and niece to watch the Dashami immersion.

“Around 8.30pm, I walked to the river bed with my family members to watch the immersion from up close. People were chanting ‘Ma Durga Ki Jai,’ performing rituals and immersing the idols. All was normal. Suddenly, I heard the announcement that the water levels are rising. I didn’t take any risk and immediately asked my wife, son and niece to go to the riverbank and move to a safer place,” Saha recounted.

As they took time in trudging through the riverbed to reach the bank, some local youths helped them.Saha, who was behind his other family members, said everything happened quickly.

“Suddenly, we could hear the sound of water and saw water gushing through the river.… I somehow managed to jump on to the bank. There were many others on the river bed, busy immersing the idols. They had perhaps not realised the threat. Soon, we heard many people crying loudly for help as they were being swept away,” he said.

Dipsha, his wife, said that within a few minutes, the water levels rose and the swift current made it difficult for people to reach the banks.

“Many people, who were standing on the dry bed, stumbled as the bed got filled with knee-deep water within minutes. They somehow managed to reach the bank with sprains and lacerations on legs. We had never seen such a horrific scene before,” she said.

Bikash Dutta, a schoolteacher and a local resident, said those who were in the river and on the banks had no inkling of any disaster.“Unlike regular floods when water levels increase gradually, here the water level rose within minutes. Also, there was a mood of celebration all around and people could hardly react quickly to save themselves,” he said.