Google maps dam incident

34-Year-Old Man Drowns in a Dam After Following Google Maps

Google maps, over the years, has become a go-to application for people venturing in an unknown and unexplored area. Not to say that Google maps are 100 % accurate but it has come a long way in terms of accuracy. But, in a freak incident, Google maps showcased the directions incorrectly, due to which a car was driven into a dam and the driver unfortunately died.

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In an earlier incident, not quite a long time ago, a bunch of teens in Russia followed Google Maps which only led them to an abandoned road where they tragically froze to death. This is a similar scenario.

Google maps dam incident

 

It was late in the night and the 34-old deceased Mr Satish Ghule was following Google Maps for directions in Ahmednagar’s Akole town, Maharashtra, according to the Police. The incident took place around 1.45 AM when Ghule was driving himself and two others – Guru Shekhar ( 42 ) and Sameer Rajurkar ( 42 ) for a trek to Maharashtra’s highest peak, Kalsubai.

While heading towards Kalsubai, they lost track of the direction and hence turned to Google Maps to help them reach their destination. Google Maps then displayed the nearest route to their destination which, unfortunately, took them directly into a dam, and due to the darkness, they couldn’t spot clearly what was around and drove into the dam.

“While driving towards Kalsubai for trekking, they had lost their way and sought guidance from Google Maps, when they accidentally drove into the water,” Senior Inspector Abhay Parmar of Akole police station was quoted as saying. “There is a bridge there, which is operational for eight months. But for four months after the rainy season, the water of the dam is released and the bridge goes underwater, due to which it cannot be used,”

Mr Satish Ghule couldn’t swim while the other two successfully managed to reach the shore. The locals knew that the bridge was not operational for 4 months hence they wouldn’t use it. The local Civic authorities also didn’t have any form of banner or boards installed to warn people about the same and the information was not updated on the Google Maps. The locals rushed to help and pulled the stricken Toyota Fortuner out of the water. This has happened earlier in India too as a man, to avoid the toll on roads took a separate road via Google Maps only to find himself in a forest.

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