Floods kill 12 people, allow wild animals to escape from zoo in Georgia

Severe flooding in the Georgian capital killed at least 12 people Sunday and triggered a big-game hunt across the city for lions, tigers, a hippopotamus and other dangerous animals that escaped from Tbilisi's ravaged zoo, according to ABC News.

Residents were warned to stay indoors as police conducted the hunt, but fear deepened as night fell on the city of 1.1 million with some of the animals still on the loose.

Heavy rain turned a normally pleasant city stream into a fierce torrent that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in the former Soviet republic. Officials said 12 people were known to have died and about two dozen others were missing.

There were no immediate reports that any of the dead were killed by the animals, which ran off after the floodwaters destroyed their enclosures. Among the beasts that escaped were bears, wolves and monkeys.

Authorities said the animals may have fled to just about any corner of Tbilisi, including the forests on the steep hills in the city's heart.

Zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze said a count of the escaped animals was not immediately possible because so many of the zoo's enclosures were under water. But she said five lions were unaccounted for and many monkeys had escaped.

Three zoo workers were found dead on its grounds, including a woman who less than a month ago lost an arm in a tiger attack. Her husband was also reported dead.

The floodwaters gouged huge chunks out of roads and swamped numerous homes. Helicopters circled the city, and volunteers and rescue workers labored to help residents despite the danger from the escaped animals.