At least 9 dead, tigers on loose in Georgian capital flooding

At least nine people died and a number of others were missing following flooding that destroyed enclosures at the zoo in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi, leaving animals including lions and tigers on the loose, it was reported Sunday.

 

Some of the animals that escaped — which also include bears and wolves — were captured or killed, and the search for those still on the loose continued early Sunday, the news agency Civil.ge. reported.

 

It said that heavy rainfall started late Saturday and turned the Vere, normally a small stream, into a “raging river.”

 

City mayor David Narmania told journalists that eight people died and 10 were missing. Three zoo workers were among the dead, the Associated Press reported.

 

The zoo’s press service said an escaped hippopotamus was cornered in one of the city’s main squares and subdued with a tranquilizer gun, the news agency added.

 

Irakli Garibashvili, prime minister of the former Soviet republic, said the damage caused by the flooding is substantial, and called for people to remain at home as search for the animals continued, Civil.ge. reported.