Car with 5 swept away by floodwaters after following Google Maps directions

All five occupants escaped unharmed with assistance from local residents.

The car was driving on National Highway 2 and as it reached Ham Yen District at around 10 p.m., the road was flooded with more than half a meter of water, rendering it impassable.

Local residents advised the driver to take a road in Hamlet 2 of Thai Son Commune to bypass the flooded section.

However, he used Google Maps for navigation, which directed him to a road in Hamlet 1 instead. While attempting to navigate the flooded stretch in Hamlet 1, the car was swept away and drifted about 200 meters before becoming stuck in a bush, nearly completely submerged.

A child from the neighborhood alerted adults who assisted people to escape from the car as the driver managed to break a window from inside.

Heavy rainfall continued in northern mountainous provinces on Monday night due to a low-pressure trough and high-altitude wind convergence. Rainfall from 7 p.m. on Monday to 8 a.m. on Tuesday measured 106 mm in Ha Giang, 120 mm in Tuyen Quang, and 91 mm in Yen Bai, causing flooding in several central streets of low-lying areas.

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, rainfall will gradually decrease this week, with thunderstorms expected in some midland and mountainous areas of the north.