10 dead as tigers and lions roam Tbilisi after floods

Lions, tigers, bears and other wild animals escaped from a zoo in the Georgian capital Tbilisi June 14, adding to chaos caused by flooding that killed at least 10 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 called on Tbilisi residents to stay indoors while the animals were still on the loose, describing the damage to the city's infrastructure as "substantial" after the River Vere burst its banks after hours of torrential rain.     

"The number of people killed in the flood has grown to 10," a spokesman at the State Security and Crisis Management Council told AFP. "Rescuers are among the dead. The number of missing people is being established. At least 36 people have been hospitalised, including 16 with multiple fractures."    

The floods turned the streets and squares into raging torrents, sweeping away cars and flooding houses in the ex-Soviet state.

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Tbilisi Zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze told the InterPressNews agency that three dead bodies had been found on the grounds of the zoo, including two employees.
           
"Search for animals continues, but a large part of the zoo is simply non-existent. It was turned into a hellish whirlpool," she said.
   
"Some 20 wolves, eight lions, white tigers, tigers, jackals, jaguars have either been shot dead by special forces or are missing. Only three out of our 17 penguins were saved."    

Rustavi 2 television broadcast footage showing a hippo swimming in the flooded Heroes' Square in downtown Tbilisi as rescuers struggled to capture...