Close shave for 3 friends after fog causes car to veer off damaged bridge

There were no major injuries to the passengers as the vehicle was slow due to fog and the canal had less water; trio discharged after first aid at a local hospital

LUCKNOW Three friends had a narrow escape when the car they were travelling in fell into a canal from a partially damaged bridge in Bareilly amid dense fog while navigating their way through GPS towards Pilibhit on their way to Kanpur on Tuesday morning, said police.

The car being pulled out of the canal. (Sourced)

There were no major injuries to the passengers as the vehicle was slow due to fog and the canal also had less water. They were discharged after first aid at a local hospital.

ASP (city), Bareilly, Manush Pareek informed that the incident took place when the car riders took a shortcut to Pilibhit through rural areas via Barkapur intersection shown on the GPS navigator around 6am. He said the route was visible on the GPS navigator and the partially damaged bridge was being used by villagers as they are aware about it. Low visibility in the morning was also one of the reasons behind the mishap, he added.

One of the passengers, Divyanshu, informed the police that the incident happened when he, along with his two friends Shivam and Prakash, was travelling from Bareilly to Kanpur in a sedan when the car was passing through Kalapur canal. “The car plunged into the canal as we failed to notice the damaged bridge due to low visibility,” he said, adding, “I somehow managed to come out of the toppled car and then pulled out my friends before informing the police. The police team later arranged a crane to pull out the car.”

In a tragic incident in Bareilly on November 25, three individuals lost their lives after their car, misdirected by GPS, veered off an under-construction bridge and plunged into the Ramganga river.

The victims, Vivek, Amit, and a third individual yet to be named, were travelling from Gurugram to Bareilly to attend a wedding. Relying on GPS for navigation, their vehicle unknowingly approached an incomplete flyover. Unaware of the danger, they drove on to the structure, which ended abruptly, causing the car to fall 50 feet into the river below.

The police had informed that a part of the bridge was washed away during a flood in 2023, but this change was not reflected on the GPS navigator. Badaun naib tehsildar, Chavvi Ram, lodged an FIR against four engineers of PWD as well as the regional manager of Google Maps and unknown villagers at Dataganj police station of Badaun.

The police issued a notice to record the statement of Google Maps authorities regarding the FIR lodged in the Badaun incident. In the FIR, the complainant had accused the regional manager of Google Maps of negligence and not blocking the approach road of the Ramganga bridge despite the fact that the route was not in use since September 2023. The authorities concerned, however, blocked the route after the incident.