Lions Feared On The Loose After Deadly Floods

A number of dangerous animals are still believed to be on the loose in the Georgian capital after flash floods wrecked Tbilisi Zoo and killed at least 12 people.

Rain turned the River Vere, which flows through the city, into a torrent that swept away dozens of buildings and cars.

Three zoo workers were among the dead and 24 other people are still unaccounted for, according to officials.

Several animals which escaped from the zoo, as some enclosures were submerged and others hit by mudslides, have been killed or recaptured.

An escaped hippopotamus was cornered in one of the city's main squares and subdued with a tranquiliser gun, while a crocodile was rescued from the muddy water flowing through the city.

Other animals which escaped from their enclosures included tigers, lions, bears and wolves.

Zoo spokeswoman Khatia Basilashvili said four lions, three tigers and two jaguars had been killed either in the flood or while on the loose, while the location of four lions, three tigers and one jaguar was not yet known.

Pictures showed a number of dead bears being recovered from the zoo.

Residents are being told to stay inside as zoo workers try to locate the missing animals, with helicopters circling the city of around 1.1 million people.

A hotline has been set up for residents to tell the emergency services if they spot any of the animals.

The flooding also killed about 60 dogs when the waters inundated a shelter for homeless animals near the zoo, shelter staff said.

Dozens of families have been left without home and thousands have no water or electricity.

A preliminary estimate has put the damage at $10m (£6.4m), according to Irakly Lekvinadze, the vice mayor of Tbilisi.

Several of the city's main roads have been completely destroyed.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili has sent his condolences to the families of the victims.

He told local television during a visit to observe the clean-up operation: "The human losses that we have suffered are very hard to tolerate. I express my condolences to all the people who lost their relatives."

None of the fatalities were believed to have been caused by the escaped animals, but zoo director Zurab Gurielidze said one of the lions that died had been shot in the head by an unknown gunman.

The zoo said one of the keepers who died was Guliko Chitadze, who had lost an arm in an attack by a tiger last month.

The Interfax news agency reported that her husband also died in the flooding.

The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, was quoted by Interfax as telling a mass that Georgia's former Communist rulers could be seen as being involved in the disaster.