Kasaragod: Two Kanhangad natives had a narrow escape on the Pallanchi Forest road in Kuttikol after their car fell into a river early morning on Thursday.
The passengers M Abdul Rashid (35) and A Thashreef (36) said they met with the accident at 6 am while heading towards a hospital at Uppinangady in Karnataka. Rashid was behind the wheels following the directions shown on Google Maps.
As they drove onto a bridge over the Pallanchi River, which lacked barricades and was submerged due to heavy rainfall, they mistook it as a road. It was dark outside and the path was not visible leading to the accident.
The car drifted about 150 meters before getting stuck in some plants. The duo managed to escape by lowering the side windows. Soon they informed their relatives about the accident via phone, who subsequently alerted fire force officials.
Fire force along with local residents rescued Rashid and Thashreef, who sustained minor injuries in the accident. Efforts to retrieve the car from the river are ongoing. Notably, a new, taller bridge was constructed 500 meters from the accident spot four years ago, but Google Maps still shows the old bridge.
