Kasaragod: The GPS (Global Positioning System) on the timber-laden truck driven by Kozhikode resident Arjun worked only for 19 minutes after the vehicle was buried under the massive landslide at Shirur in Karnataka on July 16, reveals digital data accessed by ‘Malayala Manorama.’

Incidentally, several reports had earlier claimed that the GPS was active and the engine of the truck was running for two days after the accident. The data obtained by ‘Manorama’ from ‘Truckconnect’ indicates that these reports were false.

The data shows that the GPS location of Arjun’s truck was alive for the last time at 8.49 am on July 16. With the landslide being reported at 8.30 am, it is evident that the GPS stalled after 19 minutes. The final location of Arjun’s truck is shown as Shirur itself and the map displays a red signal at the spot, indicating that the truck went offline.

On the fateful day, Arjun was at the wheel of the truck – KA 15 A 7427 with the name ‘Sagar Koya Timbers’ – for six hours and 30 minutes and covered 181 km. It could be inferred that he started the day’s drive at 2 am. His maximum speed that day is shown as 74 kmph and he stopped at various locations for a total of 15 minutes with the engine running, probably to take rest. The longest period of stoppage was 14 minutes and 25 seconds at Shirur. It is likely that the location of the truck during this time was near the tea shop that was swept away in the landslide, killing the owner and his family. Piecing together all this data, it could be assumed that Arjun arrived at 8.15 am, at the spot where the landslide later took place.

Analysis of the data further suggests Arjun was sleeping in the truck after parking it near the teashop with the engine running. However, the GPS stopped working when the power was switched off after the landslide destroyed the truck. The owner of the truck had detected its final location from the GPS map and concluded that the vehicle was involved in the landslide.

It has also been revealed that the truck’s fuel tank was more than half-full during the time of the mishap.