Google Maps and navigation feature has now become a very commonly used application by people who are on the road. Most of the time, it comes up with the easiest route and make our lives easy while driving in city. There have also been incidents where people get in trouble, hit a dead end or get lost after following google maps. Some of you who are reading this article might have experienced it yourselves. We have featured some stories of similar nature on our website and here we have another incident from Kerala where tourists lost their way after using Google maps and ended up in forest.
The incident happened to Dr. Nawab and his family who were staying at a private resort in Munnar’s Devikulam area. Dr. Nawab along was accompanied by his wife and a relative in the car. They went to out for sigh seeing and visited Top station and Vattavada village. On their way back they used google maps to reach the hotel. The group followed Google Maps blindly as they were not familiar with the roads in the area. After driving for some time, they deviated from the main road and drove car through some tea plantations and rough roads.
They drove through the interior roads for almost five hours and by the mid night they were trapped in the middle of nowhere. Google Maps had shown them a different route than usual and that made them drive right into the forest. Once the car entered the forest, things became even more challenging . The group was travelling in a Maruti Suzuki WagonR. The hatchback got stuck in dirt and there was no way that they could get the vehicle out. By the time they realised that they are lost, they were already in the middle of the forest.
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Dr. Nawab then started trying to reach Fire and Rescue Services department. As they were trapped in the middle of a jungle, the mobile network was quite weak. Dr. Nawab however managed to send his location and message to the Fire and Rescue team and a team of 9 personnel started searching the Kuttyarvalley area by 1:30 am. Although the team had started the search, they were unable to find the vehicle and passengers. The officers were unable to find the location that Dr. Nawab had shared with them.
The rescue team them drove to a higher ground and switched on their search light. meanwhile, officers got in touch with Dr. Nawab and once they spotted the search light, Dr. Nawab turned on the lights on his Maruti WagonR. Once this happened the rescue team spotted the group and went ahead to rescue them. BY 4 am, rescue team reached the spot and rescue the vehicle and people and brought them outside the forest.
The area where the family got stuck was known to have wild animals like elephants and Tiger. The family was lucky and they did not come across anything like that. It is always a good idea to not rely on Google Maps when you are driving through such areas. Always ask locals for directions or help. You can even join some forums who can help you with the routes if you are planning a long journey.
Via: Manorama Online
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The post Family travelling in Maruti WagonR end up in a jungle after following Google Maps: Rescued by forest department first appeared on Cartoq.