Tbilisi: In a scene straight out of Hollywood movie 'Jumanji', animals like lions, tigers and even an hippopotamus escaped from a zoo as flood waters entered the Georgian capital on Sunday.
But in the chaos caused due to the floods 12 people were killed and police and soldiers hunted down the animals, recapturing some and shooting others dead.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili called on Tbilisi residents to stay indoors while the animals were still at large, describing the damage to the city`s infrastructure as "substantial."
Tbilisi Zoo spokesperson said that three dead bodies had been found on the grounds of the zoo, including those of two employees.
Zoo spokesperson said 20 wolves, eight lions and an unspecified number of tigers, jackals and jaguars had been shot dead by special forces or were missing.
Only three out of 17 penguins of the zoo were saved.
Television broadcast footages showed a hippo swimming in the flooded Heroes` Square in downtown Tbilisi as rescuers struggled to capture the animal.
The corpses of a lion and a pony lay on the road close to the zoo on Sunday afternoon.
The government set up a hotline for residents to inform the emergency services if they spotted any of the predators.
The River Vere breached its banks after hours of torrential rain.
The head of Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, blamed the floods on the "sin" of Communists who he said built the zoo using money raised from destroying churches and melting down their bells.
(With Agency Inputs)
