Thiruvananthapuram: In yet another case of Google Maps going wrong, two persons narrowly escaped after the car they were travelling in fell into a river in the Kasargod district of Kerala on Thursday morning.
The incident took place on the Pallanchi forest road in Kuttikol. The duo identified as Abdul Rashid, 35, and A Thashreef 36, were on their way to a hospital in Uppinangady in neighbouring Karnataka. They reportedly followed the directions on the Google Maps to navigate to their destination.
But their journey took a perilous turn while crossing a bridge over the Pallanchi river, which lacked barricades. As the bridge was submerged in water due to the heavy rains, they mistook it for a waterlogged road.
The incident happened at 6 am while it was still dark. Despite poor visibility, they drove ahead. The vehicle drifted away 200 meters and got stuck in some bushes.
The duo somehow managed to lower the windows and spoke to their relatives about the accident over the phone who alerted the fire force department.
Soon fire and rescue workers rushed to the spot along with the relatives and rescued Rashid and Thashreef. Efforts were on to retrieve the car from the river.
Residents report that despite the construction of a new bridge about 500 meters from this location, Google Maps continues to display the old bridge, directing people here.
This is not the first incident involving Google Maps in Kerala. Last month a tourist group from Hyderabad relying on Google Maps for navigation, ended up driving into a waterlogged stream. Fortunately, all four members were rescued unharmed, thanks to the assistance of local police and residents.
In October 2023, two doctors were tragically led to their death by GPS. They were returning from a birthday party along with three other friends when the incident occurred.
The driver had been following directions on Google Maps. Due to heavy rains, visibility was extremely low. They inadvertently drove into the Periyar River as there were no barricades or signboards to mark the river.
Three of them were rescued alive by residents and fire officials.
Kerala police urge people to be cautious while using Google Maps during the monsoon season
Kerala police have issued cautionary guidelines, from time to time, for using Google Maps during the monsoon season.
While Google Maps is very helpful for navigation, taking unfamiliar routes by looking at the map, especially during monsoon, is risky. Google Maps may lead to impassable rods with overflowing streams, landslides, fallen trees, narrow roads and dangerous roads where smooth movement is not possible.
The police have also urged people to select the proper mode of travel on the map.
