Kalladi: The CCTV cameras installed at Grilax Restaurant, located just a short distance from the twin tunnel project site, captured the terrifying moments when a massive mudslide swept through Kalladi on Tuesday.

Remarkably, the restaurant itself escaped without damage, though the debris came dangerously close to the building.

"There had been heavy rain since yesterday, but nothing seemed unusual to us," said Ashique, manager of the restaurant. "Rain is common in this region, and there were no warning signs or alarm calls as the rainfall was not intense enough to make people suspect such a disaster."

According to Ashique, he was watching the road outside the restaurant when a Meppadi–Chooralmala bus approached the nearby bridge.

"The bus stopped a few metres before the bridge to allow a woman passenger to get off. Since the road in front of the bus waiting shed had become slushy, a few people who had been waiting there walked towards the bus instead," he recalled.

"Just then, I saw a few more people crossing in front of the restaurant. Within seconds, there was a deafening roar from the hill behind the construction site. Almost immediately, a massive wave of mud, slush and boulders came crashing down. A huge section of the artificial hill, formed by the soil excavated during tunnel construction, suddenly ripped apart and collapsed."

Ashique said one scene from those terrifying moments remains etched in his memory.

"To my horror, I saw a woman running desperately ahead of the rushing mud. It was a race against death. She lost her footing and fell into the slush, but local residents and rescue workers managed to pull her to safety in time," he said. 

The restaurant's CCTV cameras recorded the entire sequence—from the ominous roar of the collapsing hill and the frantic attempts of people to flee, to the devastating torrent of mud engulfing the area. The footage, believed to be among the first visuals of the disaster, quickly spread across social media and television channels, providing a chilling account of the tragedy.

"The debris came right up to the front of our restaurant. We, too, had a very narrow escape. Had the mudslide travelled a little farther, our building would also have been buried," Ashique said.