Georgia: Zoo animals roam free in Tbilisi after heavy flooding

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VIDEO: Hippo seen on the loose in Tbilisi, Georgia, after deadly floods enabled animals to escape from zoo: http://t.co/S5dHbh2rLX

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 14, 2015

There were no immediate reports that any of the fatalities were due to animal attacks. The zoo said one of the dead was Guliko Chitadze, a zookeeper who lost an arm in an attack by a tiger last month.

Heavy rains and wind hit Tbilisi during the night, turning a normally small stream that runs through the hilly city into a surging river. The flooding also damaged dozens of houses. City mayor David Narmania told journalists that 10 people were known to have died; 10 others were reported missing.

Helicopters are circling the city and residents have been told to stay indoors except in an emergency. About 1.1 million people live in the former Soviet republic’s capital.

The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as telling a Sunday Mass that Georgia’s former Communist rulers could be seen as involved in the disaster.

“When Communists came to us in this country, they ordered that all crosses and bells of the churches be melted down and the money used to build the zoo,” he said.

“The sin will not go without punishment. I am very sorry that Georgians fell so that a zoo was built at the expense of destroyed churches.”