Tbilisi residents have been asked to stay indoors after heavy flooding has freed deadly animals, including hippopotamus, tigers, lions, wolves and bears from a zoo in the Georgian capital.
Tbilisi municipality officials say heavy rainfall and subsequent flash floods left at least 12 people dead and several others missing, Civil Gerogia reported,
"The damage is substantial," Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said regarding the scale of flooding, according to The Guardian. The Saturday night downpour turned the Vere river, which flows through Tbilisi, into a torrent that flooded the streets.
A zoo in the city was also flooded, allowing animals to escape. About half of the zoo's 600 animals, including birds and penguins, were missing. Some of the wild animals were either caught or killed, but the search continues for missing animals, according to Reuters,
"Search for animals continues, but a large part of the zoo is simply non-existent. It was turned into a hellish whirlpool," Tbilisi Zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze said, according to the Agence France Presse.
"Some 20 wolves, eight lions, white tigers, tigers, jackals, jaguars have either been shot dead by special forces or are missing," she added. "Only three out of our 17 penguins were saved."
City mayor David Narmania called on residents not to panic, stay calm and not to leave homes.
"Not all animals that fled from the zoo have been caught yet. Therefore I would ask the population to refrain from moving in the city without the acutest need," city mayor David Narmania said on Sunday, Interfax reported,
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili visited the worst hit districts of the Georgian capital and said that the situation is a difficult one, but one that can be fixed with joint efforts, according to Interfax.
"The situation is difficult but it can be overcome. The streets will be cleared. Everything will be restored. But unfortunately, it is impossible to return the people who fell victim to the elements," Margvelashvili said.
