BAREILLY, 24 JAN

Two French cyclist using Google Maps to travel to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, from Delhi lost their way and got stranded in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly on Thursday.

They reached near Churaili Dam here, police said on Friday.

The two were spotted by some villagers cycling at night and taken to Churaili police outpost.

Police lodged the cyclists at the village Pradhan's house for the night and sent them on their way on Friday with route instructions.

Baheri Circle Officer Arun Kumar Singh said French citizens Brian Jacques Gilbert and Sebastian Francois Gabriel had come to Delhi from France by flight on 7 January.

"They had to go to Kathmandu in Nepal via Tanakpur from Pilibhit. Both foreigners were waylaid by Google Maps in the dark. The app showed them a shortcut via Baheri in Bareilly, due to which they got lost and reached Churaili Dam," the CO said.

"When the villagers saw both the foreigners roaming on bicycles on a deserted road at 11pm Thursday, they could not understand their language. To avoid any incident with the two foreigners, they took both of them to the Churaili police outpost," Singh said.

When Senior Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya came to know about the matter, he spoke to both the French tourists and instructed police to guide them to their destination.

In a fatal accident in November last year, three people were killed in Bareilly when their car fell into the Ramganga River from an under-construction bridge. They navigated using Maps, but the app failed to indicate that a portion of the bridge was damaged.