Using Google maps, Miyapur guys drive into stream in God’s own country

Kottayam: Using Google maps to navigate resulted in a tourist group from Hyderabad driving into a stream swollen with water near Kuruppanthara in this south Kerala district, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred late on Friday night when a four-member group – Koushik, Yashwanth, Madhan and Abhi, all residents of Miyapur – were on the way to Alappuzha from Kottayam when the incident occurred. The road they were travelling on was covered by water overflowing from the stream due to heavy rains and since the tourists were unfamiliar with the area, they drove right into the water body while navigating using Google maps, police said.

All four managed to escape unharmed due to the efforts of a nearby police patrolling unit and local residents, but their vehicle was completely submerged under the water, an officer of Kaduthuruthy police station said. The vehicle -- a Ford Endeavour -- was later pulled out of the stream using a crane. Thereafter, the man who was driving the vehicle told reporters that he and his friends were going to Alappuzha from Munnar and they took the route shown by Google maps.

"At around 2-3 pm, it started raining very heavily. The road was waterlogged. I was going very slow at around 10 km per hour."