December 10, 2012 - 8:56 PM Eastern Standard Time
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police are warning the public that errors in Apple's much-maligned mapping application are leading drivers headed to the southern city of Mildura to take a potentially "life-threatening" wrong turn into the middle of a remote state park.
Victoria state police said this week that Apple's Maps service places the city of Mildura about 70 kilometers (44 miles) away in the Murray Sunset National Park, a desert-like 5,000 square kilometer (1,900 square mile) region with scorching temperatures and virtually no mobile phone reception.
Police have been forced to rescue distressed drivers who have gotten stuck in the rural area — some of whom were stranded for 24 hours with no food or water and have walked long distances through tough terrain to access phone reception.
"Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees (115 degrees Fahrenheit), making this a potentially life threatening issue," police said in a statement.
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