Google Maps responds after 3 men die driving off unfinished bridge from following app

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A fatal navigation error turned deadly when three men followed Google Maps onto an unfinished bridge in Uttar Pradesh, India, leading to a devastating plunge. The accident has prompted an apology by the tech giant.

 

Brothers Nitin and Ajit, both 30, along with their 40-year-old companion Amit, lost their lives in the early hours of November 24, 2024, when their vehicle drove off an incomplete bridge and plummeted 50 feet into the Ramganga River. The trio was en route from Gurugram to Bareilly to attend a wedding celebration. Since it was so dark, they could not properly see what was ahead of them.

 

Mobile records confirmed the men were following Google Maps directions when they encountered the damaged bridge, which had been partially washed away by floods months earlier. Construction had only recently begun on repairs, yet the navigation app still showed the route as viable, failing to reflect the bridge’s compromised state.

 

The tragedy remained undiscovered until local residents spotted the wreckage the following morning and alerted authorities. Police teams recovered the bodies and sent them for post-mortem examination, while families of the deceased began asking difficult questions about responsibility and safety measures.

 

Pramod Kumar, a relative of one of the victims, voiced concerns to India’s Economic Times about the clear lack of safety precautions at the site.  “The road should have been blocked, but it wasn’t,” Pramod stated, adding that Google Maps indicated the bridge was complete.

 

The victims’ loved ones argue that clearer communication and better infrastructure management could have prevented this outcome.

 

In response, Google issued a statement extending its “deepest sympathies” to the families and pledging to assist with the investigation. A spokesperson emphasized the company’s cooperation with local authorities to help understand what led to this accident.

 

• https://futurism.com/the-byte/three-men-die-google-maps-unfinished-bridge 
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/google-maps-leads-three-men-to-death-as-car-plunges-from-incomplete-bridge-into-river-in-bareilly-up/articleshow/115651260.cms 
• https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/up-men-google-maps-car-incomplete-bridge-bareilly-river-fall-dead-police-investigation-2639395-2024-11-24 
• https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/misled-by-google-maps-3-men-die-after-driving-their-car-off-incomplete-bridge-in-india 
• https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/three-people-killed-after-google-34192406