The Encinitas Fire and Marine Safety say that they responded to a cliff rescue at about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, on E St. in Encinitas, California.
Two men who fell off a cliff were reportedly playing before they fell.
One of the men fell onto the bluffs 50 feet below the cliff, while the other fell 80 feet onto the beach. The first victim was pulled back up using ropes and harnesses by lifeguards while the second man was treated by lifeguards and firefighters.
The man on the beach told Encinitas Fire Battalion Chief Robbie Ford that the two were playing the smartphone game Pokémon Go before they fell over the edge, according to the San Diego Tribune.
The virtual game Pokémon Go developed by Niantic lets participants hunt for virtual pocket monsters in real world locations and has become massively popular, topping 15 million downloads. It was only released this month.
In order to find Pokemon critters, the men had climbed a fence on which was posted a warning sign telling visitors that the buffs were unstable. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported that the men were 21 and 22 years old.
Both patients have been transferred to the Scripps La Jolla Trauma Center. Their injuries are described as moderate.
This is not the first incident of distractions caused by the game leading to real-world danger. Another incident involved a New York man who drove off a road into a tree while playing the game.
