Cherpu (Thrissur): Even after returning home and sweating in the summer heat, four friends say they still shudder at the memory of being trapped for 12 hours inside a freezing tunnel in Manali two days ago.

The group — photographers Berly from Perinchery, Jaison Chackola from Ollur, Mejo from Vallachira, and furniture businessman Roby Veerampulli from Chovvur — were stuck inside the tunnel for an entire night. They shared their terrifying experience.

The friends had set out for Manali on March 13 as part of a tour package. On March 14, they visited Gulaba. On March 15, while returning after crossing the Atal Tunnel and visiting Sissu, heavy snowfall intensified. They got stuck inside the tunnel around 4:30 pm.

“As vehicles stopped moving, many passengers grew anxious through the night. We, along with many others, struggled without access to drinking water. The absence of toilets caused severe distress, especially for women. Though we initially wanted to capture the snowfall, it was coming down as heavily as rain, and we feared damage to our cameras, so we dropped the idea. We managed to take a few photos and videos on our phones, but later gave that up too,” said Berly, who runs Linz Studio in Chovvur.

They were finally able to exit the tunnel around 5 am on March 16. Mejo said they saw many vehicles that had lost control and were stranded along the roadside in the snow. Media reports said that more than 1000 vehicles were trapped due to heavy snowfall in the Atal Tunnel region.

The Atal Highway Tunnel, which connects Manali and Leh in Himachal Pradesh, is the world’s longest highway tunnel, stretching 9.02 kilometers.