Car plunged into Periyar river

Driver assumed river was a waterlogged road

Fire brigade rescued 3 passengers

Two doctors of a private medical hospital drowned to death as they misread a river for a water logged area. The car was taking the aid of Google Maps to reach Kodungallur from Kochi.The car plunged into the Periyar river amidst heavy rains and poor lighting.   The incident occurred at 12:30 AM on saturday. 

The locals took cognisance of the situation and were immediately involved in the rescue operations. The fire brigade and the police were also immediately apprised of the situation. three passengers who were on the backseat were eventually rescued. This included Dr Khasik, an MBBS student Thamanna and a male nurse Jismon. The three were taken to the nearest hospital and have been reported to be in a stable condition

“The visibility was very low at the time due to heavy rain. They were following a route shown by the Google map. But it seems like instead of taking a left turn as suggested by the maps, they mistakenly went forward and fell into the river,” the police said in an interaction with PTI.

The two deceased have been identified as 29-year-old Advaith and 28-year-old Ajmal. It was Advaith’s birthday and they were returning from his birthday party. 

A scuba team recovered the bodies of the deceased from the river.