Teenagers cross US-Canada border while playing Pokemon Go

Two Canadian teenaged brothers inadvertently crossed the US-Canada border while playing the widely popular location-based augmented reality game Pokemon Go, causing a rare international incident.

The two Canadian teenagers were apprehended by US Border Patrol agents after they inadvertently and illegally crossed the US-Canada border while playing the game on their phones, officials said. 

The agents encountered the teens walking southbound from the Canadian province of Alberta, into Montana, while playing Pokemon Go, the Department of Homeland Security’s US Customs and Border Protection agency said in a statement.

Border Patrol agents quickly determined that the teens were unaware they had crossed the border, the statement said. “Both juveniles were so captivated by their Pokemon Go games that they lost track of where they were,” Michael Rappold, the agency’s public affairs officer, was quoted as saying by ABC News.

“They crossed the international border inadvertently, but agents were able to reunite them with their mother,” he said.

Their mother, who was nearby on the Canadian side, was contacted by agents while the teens were being detained. The teens were apprehended near Sweet Grass, Montana, which borders the town of Coutts, Alberta. The incident comes amid a surge in incidents of people getting into trouble while playing Pokemon Go.

Earlier this month, police forces across Canada warned of the risks involved in playing augmented reality games such as Pokemon Go as reports mounted of people getting injured or landing in trouble as they play the wildly popular game.

In Quebec City, police said two officers suffered minor injuries when a car they observed driving strangely reversed into their cruiser in a parking lot.

“The driver said ‘I’m sorry, I was playing Pokemon Go’,” said Const. Nancy Roussel.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.