NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Pokemon Go's first death, as warning issued about landmines

news.com.au
21 Jul, 2016 02:52 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The appearance of a rare Pokemon in New York caused a huge crowd of players to rush towards its location

It was only a matter of time before Pokemon Go was responsible for someone's death.

Two teenagers from Guatemala were hunting for Pokemon when they were gunned down playing the wildly popular game.

Jerson Lopez de Leon, 18, was killed, while his cousin Daniel Moises Picen, 17, was badly wounded.

Local reports said the pair were walking along a railroad looking for Pokemon on a street in Chiquimula, 200km from Guatemala City.

It isn't clear what sparked the violent attack, but police suggest the game's location features may have lead them into a dangerous neighbourhood.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Almost 20 bullet casings were found at the scene of the murder and police are now looking for a white van that was seen fleeing the scene.

The victim's mother, Rosalinda, said she wished her son never left the house to play Pokemon Go.

"I don't know why my son left the house," she told the Independent.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He was already in bed when his cousin sent him a message asking him to go out and download a game a few blocks from the house."

While not fatal, a driver in Baltimore attempting to catch 'em all crashed into a police cruiser, with the incident caught on one of the officer's body cams.

After witnessing an SUV slamming into the patrol car, the police ran down to see the driver outside his vehicle, cellphone still in hand.

"That's what I get for playing this dumb ass game," the unnamed driver told police.
Baltimore Police didn't say if the man was charged with distracted driving, but used the incident to warn other drivers.

Discover more

Lifestyle

PokeDates helps you 'catch' love

23 Jul 05:40 AM
Entertainment

New Pokemon movie will not be how you imagined

21 Jul 03:00 AM
Opinion

Toby Manhire: Stop the virtual world

21 Jul 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Man critical after pole smash

21 Jul 06:45 PM

#PokemonGO is not all fun and games. Here is a video of a distracted driver who struck one of our cars. #PlaySafe pic.twitter.com/kOTfbTcILo

— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) July 19, 2016

"Pay attention to your surroundings. There are way too many people with their heads buried in their Pokemon," a spokesman told CBS.

In Brisbane's CBD, a teenage girl hunting Pokemon had her arm broken by a falling tree branch on Wednesday night.

The Queensland Ambulance Service said the girl was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital in a stable condition about 9.30pm.

One of the most troubling reports from the game is the fact Pokemon Go players in Bosnia are being warned to stay away from areas of the country with large numbers of unexploded landmines.

An estimated 120,000 mines remain buried from the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995.

Since the end of the conflict, 600 people have been killed by the devices and now a charity believes Pokemon Go will cause this to skyrocket.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The charity, Posavina bez mina, published a warning to gamers on its Facebook.

"Today we received information that some users of the Pokemon Go app in Bosnia were going to places which are a risk for (unexploded) mines, in search of a Pokemon," it wrote.

A Bosnian man plays the Pokemon game on his phone near a sign warning of a minefield. Photo / AP
A Bosnian man plays the Pokemon game on his phone near a sign warning of a minefield. Photo / AP

"Citizens are urged not to do so, to respect demarcation signs of dangerous mine fields and not to go into unknown areas."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Premium
World

Toll on Iran's civilians: 'This is unlike anything we’ve experienced before'

19 Jun 07:00 PM
World

South Africa's iconic protea flower relocates as climate warms

19 Jun 07:00 PM
World

Hurricane Erick hits Mexico, leaves destruction and flooding in wake

19 Jun 06:29 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Premium
Toll on Iran's civilians: 'This is unlike anything we’ve experienced before'

Toll on Iran's civilians: 'This is unlike anything we’ve experienced before'

19 Jun 07:00 PM

New York Times: The air strikes have upended daily life in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

South Africa's iconic protea flower relocates as climate warms

South Africa's iconic protea flower relocates as climate warms

19 Jun 07:00 PM
Hurricane Erick hits Mexico, leaves destruction and flooding in wake

Hurricane Erick hits Mexico, leaves destruction and flooding in wake

19 Jun 06:29 PM
'It will be hard': Aung San Suu Kyi's son on her 80th birthday in jail

'It will be hard': Aung San Suu Kyi's son on her 80th birthday in jail

19 Jun 06:16 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP