Srinagar, June 16 -- Rafi Fatima Naqvi, a pilgrim from Allahabad, said her group was scheduled to return to India on June 13. "But there was an attack in the morning. Since then, we've been trapped in our hotel. We don't know when or how we'll return," she said over a disrupted phone call from Qom.

Another pilgrim, Abbas Muzaffar, described scenes of growing anxiety and helplessness. "We are a group of 91 people from Allahabad. Other hotels are also packed with pilgrims from different Indian states. Everyone is confused and scared. The Internet is down, and we feel completely cut off," he said. "We urge the Indian government to evacuate us."

As the war deepens and Iranian airspace remains closed, the road to safety is long and unpredict...