Google Maps has removed the suggested route Road of Bones in Russia, after a Russian driver froze to death in -50 oC.
Google is now advising motorists who want to travel from the Russian city of Yakutsk to Magadan and vice versa to add another three hours to their journey by taking a different route, as two motorists who followed Google Maps' earlier advice died on an abandoned road in -50 Celsius.
https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1337915930240802817
After a weekly search, the body of an 18-year-old was found in a snow-covered car on an unused highway near Oymyakon, the coldest permanent settlement in the world. Miraculously, his partner survived and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for frostbite. The radiator in their vehicle had a malfunction.
Google Maps had previously advised drivers to take the so-called Road of Bones, which, according to local sources, has not been used for years. Although it technically offers a more direct route, reducing driving time between Yakutsk and Magadan to 31 hours instead of 34, the lack of road services, such as snow clearing and almost no traffic, makes it extremely dangerous in emergencies, especially winter.
A road of bones. The Kolyma Highway in eastern Siberia once delivered tens of thousands of prisoners to the work camps of Stalin's gulag. The ruins of that barbaric era are still visible today, although the elements are slowly erasing them. https://t.co/Jn0EFiJBn3 pic.twitter.com/wc6f05Kigf
- The New York Times (@timestimes) November 22, 2020
Our story comes from the Russian agency RT. In Russia, Google's navigation software is less popular than Russian Yandex Maps and the Navigator. These two apps have around 50 million monthly users. Many believe they offer much better local knowledge than the US tech giant. In fact, some Twitter users say that this incident serves as further proof why drivers should use "only Yandex Maps in Russia!"
Officially named the Kolyma Highway, the "road of bones" earned its terrible name as it was built using prisoners in forced labor and thousands died during constructionduring the Soviet era.
The teenagers were found in a 420 km stretch known as the Old Summer Road, which was deserted. The area is known as an extreme challenge for motorcyclists and adventurers, seeking four-wheeled thrills.
