Uttar Pradesh, India
A bridge to nowhere, quite literally, claimed the lives of three people in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday (Nov. 24). The three victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in Badaun district, along the Khalpur-Dataganj road. At around 10 am IST, their car cruised down an under-construction bridge with an open end.
The driver relied on GPS for navigation and didn’t realise a part of the bridge was missing. The car ended in the Ramganga River in no time, killing all three travellers, whose identities have not been revealed by police.
A police officer was quoted as saying by Indian Express that a portion of the bridge had collapsed into the river due to massive floods earlier this year but the same had not been updated in the GPS.
Uttar Pradesh: In Bareilly, three people died when their car, using Google Maps for directions, fell into the Ramganga River from an under-construction bridge. The bridge's incomplete section caused the accident pic.twitter.com/QBwCEKqDBz
— IANS (@ians_india) November 24, 2024
“Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the GPS. As a result, the driver was misled and did not realize the bridge was unsafe,” Circle Officer of the area Ashutosh Shivam said.
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“In addition, the absence of safety barriers or warning signs on the under-construction bridge compounded the danger, leading to the fatal accident,” Shivam added.
As the accident was reported Sunday morning, police from neighbouring Faridpur, Bareilly, and Badaun’s Dataganj stations rushed to the scene and recovered dead bodies. The bodies were sent for postmortem, and further investigations are underway.
(With inputs from agencies)