India, Aug. 8 -- Furqan Ahmed, 31, was waiting for his friends at Dharali's market when flash floods ploughed through the Uttarakhand village, sweeping away people and buildings. Luckily for him, he was in his car, which he managed to accelerate in a split second, to live to tell the tale. A video showing him speeding up the vehicle to escape the deluge has gone viral on social media.

Ahmed said his friends, Furkan Chota, Salman Khan, and Yogesh Kumar, had gone to buy food barely 20 feet from the vehicle when he suddenly saw everyone running. "I shouted, asking the three to run. There was no time for them to run towards the car and board it. They started running. And I sped up the vehicle."

He said he realised he was barely a few metres...