Lions, tigers and even a hippopotamus escaped from a
zoo in the Georgian capital Tbilisi Sunday, adding to
chaos caused by severe flooding that killed at least 12
people, officials said.
Police and soldiers were hunting down the animals,
recapturing some and shooting others dead, while
rescuers airlifted scores of people trapped by the floods.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili warned Tbilisi
residents to stay indoors while the zoo animals were still
on the loose,
He described the damage to the city’s infrastructure as
“substantial” after the River Vere burst its banks
following hours of torrential rain.
“Our latest estimate is that the death toll is 12,” Tbilisi
Mayor David Narmania told journalists.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Nino Giorgobiani told
AFP that 24 people were still missing by Sunday
evening.
Dozens of families have been left without shelter and
thousands more without water and electricity, the
mayor’s office said.
Several main roads have been wiped out and small
houses and cars were swept away by the torrents. In a
city cemetery coffins were washed out of the ground.
At the Tbilisi Zoo, spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze told
the InterPressNews agency that three bodies were found
on the premises of the zoo, two of them zoo employees.
“The search for animals continues, but a large part of the
zoo is simply non-existent. It was turned into a hellish
whirlpool,” Sharashidze said.
Around 20 wolves, eight lions and a number of tigers,
jackals and jaguars had been shot dead by special forces
or were missing, she said.
“Only three out of our 17 penguins were saved,” she
added.

#Team Northside