Bosnian players warned to keep off minefields amid worldwide Pokemon Go contagion
Pokemon Go fans in Bosnia have proved that they will stop at nothing in an effort to catch ‘em all, even if it requires maneuvering through mines and putting themselves at grave risk. Authorities worldwide are issuing safety guidelines for unwary players.
Posavina Without Mines, a non-governmental organization in Bosnia, issued a warning aimed at people playing Pokemon Go on Tuesday. The NGO called on gamers to make sure they keep off minefields while being fully absorbed with hunting for little monsters in the augmented reality application.
Bosnia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world with accidents still occurring after the 1992-95 war near former front lines. Over 120,000 mines remain intact, according to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre. More than 1,700 people were injured in the mine accidents and nearly 600 of them died.
Far away, Indonesia has been facing similar problems with local police saying they had to detain a French man who trespassed at a military base while playing Pokemon Go.
Instead of catching a Pikachu or some other cartoon creature, Roman Pierre, 27, was arrested at a checkpoint on Monday at the military complex in Cirebon, a spokesman for West Java reported, according to AP. Pierre tried to run away, but it turned out not to be so easy in real life.
The violator was lucky enough to be released a few hours later once it was confirmed “he unintentionally entered the complex as he was hunting Pokemon while jogging,” the police spokesman, Col. Yusri Yunus, said on Tuesday.
While the world goes crazy with catching and training virtual pocket monsters, Spanish police were obliged to issue safety guidelines. They stress that “the real world” tends to have all kinds of obstacles, including “pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, street furniture,” and poses horrifying danger to those who don’t watch their steps.
#Pikachu, #Snorlax, #Vaporeon ¡Hazte con todos con seguridad! Sigue estas pautas para ser entrenador de #PokemonGO 👍 pic.twitter.com/ZlHghuaC6E
— Policía Nacional (@policia) July 18, 2016
“Remember it is absolutely prohibited to play Pokemon while driving or cycling,” the Spanish guidelines warn.
The campaign started after Spain’s National Police had rescued a Japanese couple that went into a motorway tunnel with heavy traffic in Barcelona looking for a Pokemon.
Meanwhile police officers from New Hampshire are making the best of the world’s new craze. Their idea was to use the game as a bait to lure criminals.
A Facebook post made by Manchester police invited people to catch Charizard, a rare Pokemon, reminiscent of a fire dragon.
Charizard was detected in the booking area at the police station and everyone whose name appears on a list of 500 wanted fugitives (found attached to the Facebook post) is “one of the lucky ones” welcome to try their hand and catch the headstrong creature. The post has collected more than 37,000 like so far.
Pokemon Go has become one of the most popular applications in the world over the last week.
