Three hikers who went missing in northern Ontario were located with the assistance of the “what3words” app.
Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release that on Sunday at 10:17 p.m., officers responded to a report of three missing hikers on a trail that left from Halfway Lake Provincial Park, which is north of Sudbury.
With help of the app, the hikers’ location was provided to officers, who then told the individuals to stay at their location.
Emergency responders located and helped the hikers get back to the campgrounds. They were uninjured.
OPP said the “what3words” app is offered for free on both Android and Apple devices.
“The app labels every three squared metres with a unique three-word location string which can be converted into latitude and longitude coordinates for entry into the Computer Aided Dispatch system in use at the OPP Provincial Communication Centre (PCC),” the release said.
“Even if the caller does not have the app previously downloaded on their mobile device, the PCC communicator can send a link to the caller’s cell phone which will enable the caller (with data access and connectivity), to find their what3words location.”