One direction: Sabine Moreau was meant to pick up a friend at the station in Brussels, but took a wrong turn and ended up 900 miles away in Zagreb
A Belgian woman took an astonishing 1,800 mile detour through six countries after her car navigation system went wrong. Sabine Moreau, 67, had intended to drive to Brussels from her home in Solre-sur-Sambre to pick up a friend from the train station - a journey of just 38 miles. But she took a catastrophic wrong turn and eventually ended up 900 miles away in Zagreb, Croatia. Despite crossing five borders and seeing multiple-language traffic signs, she did not stop to question her sat-nav until two days later when she realised that she may not be in Belgium any more. Although she stopped to refuel her car several times, Ms Moreau did not think her TomTom could be leading her down the wrong path.
‘I saw all kinds of traffic signs. First in French, then in German - Cologne, Aachen, Frankfurt,’ she told a Belgian news website. ‘But I didn’t ask myself any questions. I was just distracted, so I kept my foot down,’ she added.
Police believe she crossed through France, Germany, Austria and Slovenia before finally getting to Croatia. Then she faced another 900 mile journey back to get to her home in Solre-sur-Sambre. By this stage her worried son had reported her missing to police. Officers searched her house and were about to launch a full scale manhunt when she phoned home to say she was in Zagreb. She told police: ‘I didn’t really notice anything was wrong until I suddenly arrived in Zagreb and realised that I was no longer in Belgium.’
When asked if she did not find the length of the journey - or the change in language - strange, Ms Moreau replied: ‘Maybe, but I was just preoccupied.’ ‘I didn’t really notice anything was wrong until I suddenly arrived in Zagreb and realised that I was no longer in Belgium’ So preoccupied that even after being forced to stop for petrol several times - as well as a snooze on the side of the road - Ms Moreau still did not question her satnav. ‘I stopped several times for petrol and paid with my credit card. When I felt tired I stopped for a few hours sleep in the car on a lay-by,’ she said.
‘I was a bit absent-minded as I had a few things to think about, I suppose.’
Ms Moreau finally made it home 60 hours after embarking upon her inadvertent odyssey.
A spokesman for police in Belgium, who had been on the brink of launching a hunt for Ms Moreau after being alerted by her son, said: ‘This is an incredible story. These GPS systems cause problems from time to time but nothing like this. But this woman has done nothing wrong and we just have to believe her,’ he added
