DUSHANBE, June 15, 2015, Asia-Plus — Russian news agency
RIA Novosti
reports that Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on June 14 that Monday, June 15, has been declared a day of mourning in Georgia for those who died in devastating flooding in the capital city of Tbilisi.
International media outlets report that the Georgian capital was turned into a big-game park Sunday after lions, tigers, a hippopotamus and other wild animals escaped from the city zoo following torrential flooding that killed at least 12 people.
Georgian leaders asked residents to stay inside as they hunted the escaped zoo animals, at least one of which chased a security guard across a university campus. The animals, which also included bears, hyenas and crocodiles, added a chaotic element to a tragic human situation. Some of the zoo animals were being shot by Georgian security forces despite pleas from zoo leaders to find a way to spare their lives.
The hippopotamus swam out of its enclosure and onto the central Heroes’ Square, eating leaves off a tree before being shot with a tranquilizer dart in front of a Swatch store. It was later returned to the zoo, a zoo spokeswoman said, and other animals were also being returned as night fell.
Officials said the flooding in the Georgian capital was the worst natural disaster in recent memory.
About 1.1 million people live in the Georgian capital.
The Washington Post
reports that among the dead was one zoo worker, Guliko Chitadze, who had an arm amputated two weeks ago after a tiger mauled it.
“She had returned to work just a few days ago. Her husband, also a zoo worker, was killed as well,” said zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze. “The workers had spent the night at the zoo to feed newborn animals.”
According to
The Washington Post
, Sharashidze said tigers, hyenas and eight lions had disappeared, as well as many other animals. Six of 17 penguins were saved; the rest were washed away. One crocodile was captured, and zoo workers were trying to reach another as of mid-afternoon Sunday.
Torrential rain late Saturday and early Sunday poured down on Tbilisi, a hilly city that is along a river valley. The Tbilisi Zoo lies along the banks of the Vere River, which overflowed and caught the animals in their pens and cages.
