Kolkata, 19 September (H.S.) : In a harrowing incident that highlights the perils of blindly relying on navigation apps in treacherous terrains, a young motorcyclist fell into a subsidence crater on a broken, abandoned road in Paschim Bardhaman's Pandaveswar on Friday night. The youth, who was using Google Maps to navigate an unfamiliar route, was rescued on Saturday morning in a severely injured and traumatized state following an extensive overnight search by the police.

The victim has been identified as Prasun Bandyopadhyay, a resident of Kanksa in Paschim Bardhaman, who works as a local cable operator. According to his family, Bandyopadhyay left home on Friday evening for work-related purposes. Navigating through unknown areas, he relied on his smartphone's GPS. However, a few kilometers into his journey, the digital map led him onto a perilous path. He suddenly felt a massive jolt and plunged straight into a deep crater on a road that had caved in due to mine subsidence.

Shortly after the accident, the injured youth managed to call his relatives but could not clearly articulate his location. His speech was slurred, and he was visibly disoriented. Panicked family members immediately contacted the local police. A massive search operation was launched, continuing throughout the night.

A police official involved in the rescue stated, He was unable to speak coherently and was in deep trauma after falling on the broken road. He was severely injured. When we managed to contact him and asked for his location, he kept naming different, incorrect places. We searched multiple areas before finally tracking his mobile tower location, which led us to him in the morning.

The accident site is located in the old Bhatmura area of Haripur, a territory acquired by Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL). The road in this colliery region had recently suffered significant subsidence, causing a large portion of it to collapse. Local sources report that while ECL has officially closed the road to facilitate coal extraction, the closure is not widely known to outsiders, and adequate warning signs may be lacking. Locals emphasized the urgent need to effectively communicate the road's closure to prevent further tragedies.

With the assistance of colliery authorities, the police rescued Bandyopadhyay on Saturday morning. He was immediately rushed to a hospital in Durgapur, where he is currently undergoing treatment. Police authorities have stated that the exact sequence of events leading to the accident will be ascertained only after the victim recovers sufficiently to record his statement.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh