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Escaped zoo tiger kills man

Tbilisi, Georgia (CNN) — Police have shot and killed a white tiger that killed one man and injured another Wednesday in Tbilisi, Georgia, a Ministry of Internal Affairs representative said, after severe flooding allowed hundreds of wild animals to escape the city zoo.

The tiger attack happened at a warehouse in the city center. The animal had been unaccounted for since the weekend floods destroyed the zoo premises.

There are no details yet on the condition of the second man.


At least 19 people died in the flooding, according to Civil Georgia, a news website run by the nongovernmental organization United Nations Association of Georgia. Six more remained missing, it said Tuesday, citing the State Security and Crisis Management Council.

Meanwhile, the zoo lost about half of its 600 animals, including lions, tigers, bears and wolves, in the natural disaster.

Some animals have since been recaptured, Civil Georgia reported. Others died in the floods or have been killed by police as they scour the streets for dangerous escapees.

Weekend video from the city showed what appeared to be a crocodile slithering down the streets as well as a hippopotamus standing around in floodwaters, looking confused.

The latter was eventually cornered in a city square before being tranquilized and recaptured. One terrified bear escaped the floodwaters by perching on a window ledge.

Video footage also showed devastation across swaths of the Georgia capital, where flash floods swept away roads, buildings and trees. The corpses of dead animals could be seen amid the wreckage.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili extended his condolences Tuesday to the families of those killed in the flooding.

He also proposed the creation of a park in the zoo premises to honor those lost. “It will be a park of solidarity, a symbol of our unity, selflessness, and mutual support,” he said in a statement on his website.

President Georgi Margvelashvili earlier said the capital’s mayoral office would help those who had lost out financially as a result of the floods.

“The situation is difficult, but it can be handled except for the fact that we cannot bring back those who died,” he said.