Three men lost their lives when their car plunged into the Ramganga River from an incomplete bridge in Faridpur, Bareilly district, on Saturday night. The victims were navigating with Google Maps, which led them to the unfinished bridge, police said.
The accident occurred as the men were traveling from Gurugram to Bareilly for a family wedding. According to police, the bridge’s front portion had collapsed months earlier due to floods, but the condition was not updated on the navigation app. The absence of safety barriers or warning signs on the under-construction bridge further compounded the danger, leading to the fatal accident.
Villagers in Khallpur discovered the wrecked car under the bridge on Sunday morning and alerted the authorities. Police teams from Faridpur and Dataganj rushed to the scene, recovering the vehicle and the victims’ bodies with the help of a boat. The victims, identified as Nitin Kumar (30), Ajit Kumar (35), and Amit Kumar (30), were cousins. Nitin and Ajit were from Farrukhabad and worked as drivers for a Gurugram-based security firm, while Amit hailed from Mainpuri.
Faridpur Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam confirmed that the accident occurred due to the misleading navigation and lack of road safety measures. Families of the victims criticized the negligence, with Nitin’s brother-in-law, Pramod Kumar, stating, “The road should have been blocked, but it wasn’t. The maps shouldn’t have shown the bridge as complete.”
Officials revealed that the bridge, constructed by the UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd., had been damaged months ago, but the approach road remained open. Faridpur SDM Gulab Singh said an investigation has been ordered, and action will be taken against those responsible.
The bodies were sent for postmortem, and further investigation into the tragedy is ongoing. Authorities have assured strict action to address lapses in road safety and ensure such incidents do not recur.
