Fourteen dead, hundreds of zoo animals wiped out in Georgia floods

Nine people were missing in Georgia's capital Tbilisi on Monday, a day after freak floods killed 14 people and swept away zoo animals, some of which were shot after being found prowling the streets. The death toll from the worst floods to hit Tbilisi in decades climbed to 14 after rescuers found an elderly man in the rubble of a destroyed house and another dead person in a park, officials said.
Nine people were still missing as of Monday evening, a government official said, down from an earlier count of 20. The small Vere River running through the city of 1.2 million burst its banks early Sunday after hours of torrential rain, paralysing Tbilisi and wrecking the city's zoo.
More than half the zoo's around 600 animals, birds and fish had perished, a spokeswoman said. Many of the animals, including monkeys and penguins, drowned in the muddy waters. Others, including lions, tigers and even a hippopotamus escaped but by Monday evening all the missing animals had either been recaptured or shot dead by police, zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze told AFP. Officials had said earlier Monday that two tigers, a bear, and a jackal were still on the loose. It was unclear whether they were captured or shot.