MELBOURNE: In a bizarre accident, a 19-year-old Australian trying to catch a Pokemon ploughed his car into a school in Melbourne while playing the widely popular location-based augmented reality game Pokemon Go.
Police believe the teenager was trying to catch a Pokemon on the popular mobile app when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into St Francis Xavier College in Berwick, Melbourne, yesterday.
The man overshot a roundabout and smashed through a fence before hitting an empty portable classroom. Fortunately, no one was injured.
"The 19-year-old did not level up nor collect any stardust or candies only debris from the crash," police spokeswoman Julie-Anne Newman was quoted as saying by The Age.
"Any 'Poke balls', eggs or potions the driver may have had remaining only attracted police, leaving the wild Pokemon for another day," she said.
Newman said the driver is expected to be charged on summons in relation to careless driving.
The comes only days after Roads Corporation of Victoria VicRoads warned motorists not to "Pokemon and go", with more than 40 electronic signs on display around Melbourne.
The Berwick crash is not the first accident caused by a driver playing Pokemon Go.
A man was caught on camera crashing into a police car in Baltimore in the United States, because his focus was on "catching 'em all".
The driver, who escaped unscathed, got out of the car and quickly confessed he was playing Pokemon Go behind the wheel. There has been a surge in incidents of people getting into trouble while playing Pokemon Go.
In a bizarre incident in the US, a woman last week got stuck up in a tree inside a cemetery while playing Pokemon Go.
Also, a teenager was shot dead in Guatemala after being ambushed while playing the game with his cousin.
