At the Everest base camp an hour after the avalanche.
First came the sound. And then tons of snow hit. And when it was over, people were still to figure out what had happened - for this was the first time in memory that an avalanche had hit the base camp of Everest.
Saturday's avalanche - triggered by the devastating earthquake in Nepal - had all the elements of surprise, said NDTV producer Amir Peerzada, who was at the base camp to film the start of the climbing season. The team, which had been stranded after the tragedy, for over 48 hours, has just been evacuated to Kathmandu.
"We just heard the sound. And then it struck," Amir said. "It was so unexpected. Nobody had thought these things can ever come to a base camp."
The avalanche claimed the lives of over 20 mountaineers - among them Dan Fredinburg, a Google engineer based in California and 16 sherpas. So far, 19 bodies have been recovered. Tents were buried in snow and rubble.
More than 60 people, stationed at various altitudes, were injured, leading climbers to send frantic messages calling for helicopter assistance. Most of the wounded have already been rescued.
The base camp of Everest, which is set up at around 17,000 feet, is used as the starting point of climbers. Other camps are set up along the route in higher reaches.
Around 800 people can be found at the base camp during the summer climbing season - April is one of the most popular times to scale the 8,850-metre peak.
But on Saturday, when the quake struck, at least 1,000 climbers - including about 400 foreigners - were on the mountain, say official estimates.
The 7.9 magnitude quake has claimed around 4000 lives in Nepal and over 70 in India.