Three killed in India after GPS directions led car from incomplete bridge
Three men died when their car fell from an incomplete bridge in Uttar Pradesh after following outdated Google Maps directions that did not reflect flood damage to the structure. Police filed charges against four Public Works Department engineers and a Google Maps official for failing to update the navigation system or maintain safety measures at the damaged site.
What happened
Three men—Nitin and Ajit, both 30 and brothers from Farrukhabad district, and Amit, 40, from Mainpuri district—were traveling from Noida to Faridpur in Bareilly to attend a wedding when their car fell into the Ramganga River from a partially constructed bridge on the Khalpur-Dataganj road around 10 am on November 24, 2024.
The driver was using Google Maps for navigation and did not realize the bridge was unsafe, having been damaged by earlier floods that year. Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam stated that the flood damage had not been updated in the navigation system, and the approach to the damaged bridge had no safety barriers or warning signs.
Reported impact
Three people died in the accident. Police teams recovered the vehicle and bodies from the river, and the bodies were sent for post-mortem.
Governance controls
Police filed an FIR under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS against four engineers of the PWD—2 Assistant Engineers and 2 Junior Engineers—and unknown persons. The regional officer of Google Maps was brought under the scope of investigation but had not been named in the FIR at the time of reporting.
Budaun District Magistrate Nidhi Srivastava issued instructions to the PWD and Setu Nigam to inspect all roads, bridges, flyovers, and underpasses to prevent a repeat of such incidents. A Google spokesperson stated the company was working closely with authorities and providing support to investigate the issue.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.