Achilling video of water mixed with mud gushing through a hill-top road and a man and child clinging to a bus to save their lives shows the intensity of havoc caused by heavy rains in Kerala.

The video was shot by Jaison Joseph, conductor of a Kerala Road Transport Corporation bus. Traffic had come to a halt due to the heavy rain, and Joseph was apparently filming the intensity of the rain. It was at this point Joseph saw a man and a child covered in sludge, clinging to his bus tyre.

Shocked, Jaison put the phone down and, without thinking about his life, got off the bus and pulled the man and child inside. They were identified as tourists from Gujarat. The man’s wife was stuck near the car and they were trying to leave as the water level increased. That’s when the man and his son were swept away.

Fortunately, Jaison Joseph rescued them on time. The video shows the two standing inside the bus, safe, albeit covered in mud from head to toe.

As he couldn’t get close to the car due to the strong flow of water, Jaison alerted others, who rescued the man’s wife as well.

Heavy rains since last Friday has set water levels rising in dams and rivers in the catchment areas and the eastern hilly regions of Kerala, turning roads into swift rivulets and triggering landslides and flash floods.

At least 26 people have died in rain-related incidents in Idukki and Kottayam districts of the state over the weekend, with more than a dozen still missing.

Meanwhile, the water level in the Idukki reservoir, one of the highest arch dams in Asia, has risen to 2,396.96 feet on Monday. An orange alert has been sounded.