Kasaragod (Kerala), two young men, who were on their way to the hospital using Google Maps to find their way, plunged their car into a swollen river, but they miraculously survived as Kerala's northernmost Kasaragod district The vehicle got stuck in a tree.
Visuals of fire force personnel rescuing them safely from the swollen river at Palanchi here went viral on social media platforms on Sunday.
They could escape and contact the fire force personnel only because their vehicle, which was swept away by the water current, got stuck in a tree.
The rescued youths said they were heading to a hospital in the neighboring state of Karnataka in the early hours of the second day and were navigating using Google Maps.
Abdul Rasheed, one of the youth, said Google Maps showed a narrow road and he drove his car through it.
"Using the headlights of the car, we thought there was some water in front of us. But, what we didn't see was that there was a river on both sides and a bridge in the middle. There were no sidewalls for the bridge either." He told a TV channel.
The car suddenly started flowing in the current of water but later got stuck in a tree on the bank of the river.
By this time, they managed to open the car door, come out of the vehicle and contact them by sending fire force personnel to the location.
Later, fire brigade personnel reached there and pulled out both the people safely with the help of ropes.
"We never thought we could come back to life again. We really feel like this is a rebirth," Rasheed said.
Last month, a group of tourists from Hyderabad walked into a swollen stream near Kuruppanthara in Kottayam after using Google Maps.
Due to the efforts of a nearby police patrol unit and local residents, all four managed to escape safely, but their vehicle was completely submerged in water.
Visuals of fire force personnel rescuing them safely from the swollen river at Palanchi here went viral on social media platforms on Sunday.
They could escape and contact the fire force personnel only because their vehicle, which was swept away by the water current, got stuck in a tree.
The rescued youths said they were heading to a hospital in the neighboring state of Karnataka in the early hours of the second day and were navigating using Google Maps.
Abdul Rasheed, one of the youth, said Google Maps showed a narrow road and he drove his car through it.
"Using the headlights of the car, we thought there was some water in front of us. But, what we didn't see was that there was a river on both sides and a bridge in the middle. There were no sidewalls for the bridge either." He told a TV channel.
The car suddenly started flowing in the current of water but later got stuck in a tree on the bank of the river.
By this time, they managed to open the car door, come out of the vehicle and contact them by sending fire force personnel to the location.
Later, fire brigade personnel reached there and pulled out both the people safely with the help of ropes.
"We never thought we could come back to life again. We really feel like this is a rebirth," Rasheed said.
Last month, a group of tourists from Hyderabad walked into a swollen stream near Kuruppanthara in Kottayam after using Google Maps.
Due to the efforts of a nearby police patrol unit and local residents, all four managed to escape safely, but their vehicle was completely submerged in water.
