Pokemon Go: Call for 'Pokestops' to be deleted in German airport security zones

15 August 2016

Police and the airport operators association in Germany has called for Pokemon Go features located beyond security controls to be deleted.

It said so-called "Pokestops", where players can collect items such as eggs and Poke Balls, could bring risks.

Players avoiding checks or opening emergency doors could cause "wide-reaching police measures and possibly civil damages claims".

Pokemon Go was rolled out in Germany last month.

The mobile game, which uses augmented reality, has become a global phenomenon.

Separately, police in the city of Osnabrueck said they had rescued a man who "apparently wanted to catch a particular Pokemon" from railway tracks.

EPA

Pokemon Verboten - 23 Volksbank Neuss branches in Duesselfdorf have banned the game

They said the inebriated 22-year-old told them his mobile phone had led him to the spot on Sunday morning.

Several trains were delayed while the man was taken to safety, DPA news agency reported.

Some banks in the city of Dusseldorf have also banned the game from their premises over data protection concerns.

Pokemon goes worldwide

An American woman found a dead body while she was looking for a Pokemon in a river near her home. Police said the man had died within the last 24 hours and no foul play was suspected.
Four people were arrested, external after they used the game to lure players to remote places and then rob them at gunpoint. In response, the makers of Pokemon Go have said people should "play with friends when going to new or unfamiliar places" and "remember to be safe and alert at all times".
The anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church in the US is the location of a "gym" in the game, and players planted a pink "Clefairy" Pokemon, external called Love is Love there. The church responded with a series of social media posts calling the Pokemon a sodomite.