5 Men In Maruti Swift Get Stuck In Jungle After Following Google Maps: Rescued By Forest Department [Video]

Google Maps has become an essential part of our lives, and almost everyone uses it during road trips and commutes. However, we have been hearing a lot of reports lately where people using Google Maps were misdirected to a different route by the application. Here we have one such incident from Kerala’s Nilambur, where five men travelling in a car found themselves in the middle of a forest after following Google Maps. They were later rescued by the Fire and Safety Department.

The video has been shared by Sahya Now on their YouTube channel. The video mentions that the incident happened in the Nilambur region of Malappuram district. Five men were travelling back home at midnight after attending the housewarming function of their friend. While travelling back, they relied on Google Maps for the fastest route.

As it was night, they were blindly following the maps, and in no time, they found themselves in the middle of the forest. The car was no longer on tarmac. They drove the car on mud tracks for some distance. It was also heavily raining, which affected the driver's vision. The car got stuck in the mud, and the occupants were trapped inside. They tried to bring the car out, but it was of no use. They soon realised they were stuck in the middle of the forest and had lost their way.

They contacted emergency services, and within no time, help arrived at the location. The Fire and Safety Department officers took out ropes and towed the car out. The Maruti Swift car was royally stuck in the mud, and the rain made things worse. The car stalled when the driver attempted to bring it out of the puddle.

The report mentions that water got into the car, but it is not clear whether it was the cabin or if the engine got hydrolocked. Whatever the case may have been, the men were actually lucky to have escaped from this situation unhurt. The area where they got stuck is actually a forest, and wild elephants and wild boars are commonly sighted in these areas. If any of these animals had spotted the car or the occupants, they could have attacked or hurt them.

Google Maps

As mentioned above, this is not the first time we have come across an incident like this in India. In Kerala alone, we have seen several incidents where tourists from other states, relying on Google Maps to travel, have found themselves in trouble after losing their way. In some cases, cars have fallen into canals and rivers. In most cases, people have been rescued by locals and concerned authorities.

In this case, the five men were lucky that they could contact emergency services on time. The rain and the time at which they were travelling made things challenging. If they had been travelling during the daytime, they would have easily noticed that they were moving away from the main road and would have asked locals for directions.

Not everyone is lucky. Last year, there was an incident in Uttar Pradesh where a cab fell off a bridge that was under construction. The driver was following the maps. Sadly, the driver and two occupants in the car died in the accident. Later, four engineers from the Public Works Department (PWD) and one official from Google Maps were arrested for negligence and the deaths of the three men.