Reports: At least 12 dead, tigers on loose in Georgian capital flooding

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Lions, tigers and a hippo roam streets after flood destroys zoo Tigers, lions, a hippopotamus and other animals have escaped from a zoo in Georgia's capital after heavy flooding destroyed their enclosures. Authorities were prompting residents to stay inside in Tbilisi Sunday. At least 10 people have been killed.

At least 12 people have died after flooding destroyed enclosures at the zoo in Georgia's capital of Tbilisi, leaving animals including lions and tigers roaming the city, officials said Sunday.

Some of the animals that escaped, which also include bears and wolves, were captured or killed, and the search for those still on the loose continued Sunday, the news agency Civil.ge. reported.

Heavy rainfall started late Saturday and turned the Vere, normally a small stream, into a "raging river," the news agency said.

Tbilisi residents were warned to stay indoors.

"Not all the animals who ran away from the zoo have been captured. Therefore, I want to ask the populace to refrain from moving about the city without" an urgent need to, Mayor David Narmania said.

Three zoo workers were among the dead, the Associated Press reported. There were no immediate reports that any of the fatalities were due to animal attacks.

An escaped hippopotamus was cornered in one of the city's main squares and subdued with a tranquilizer gun.

Irakli Garibashvili, prime minister of the former Soviet republic, said the damage caused by the flooding is substantial and called for people to remain at home as search for the animals continued, Civil.ge. reported.