Escaped tiger from Tbilisi Zoo kills man in city

A white tiger which escaped from a zoo during floods in Georgia has mauled a man to death before being shot by police.

Tbilisi Zoo had previously said all lions and tigers missing after the flooding at the weekend had been found.

But today a man was attacked at a factory in Tbilisi. He died of his wounds in hospital, police said.

A colleague of the man said: "We entered the depot and, suddenly, a white tiger rushed out of an adjacent room and attacked one of the workers, jumping at his throat and mauling him.

"We broke the window of another room to flee, and the sound of breaking glass must have scared it and it ran away."

Police rushed to the site and killed the tiger.

Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said: "It was a white tiger.

"We wanted to sedate it, but it was very aggressive and we had to liquidate it."

An earlier ministry claim that the tiger also wounded another man proved wrong.

Initial reports had stated the animal was a lion but police confirmed the attack had been carried out by a tiger.

Footage appears to show the tiger being carried out of the factory on a stretcher by police.

Facebook/Giorgi Devadze

Lions, tigers, wolves and hippos were among the animals to escape the zoo during the flooding, caused by heavy rain in Georgia's capital over the weekend.

Some of the animals, including the hippo, were tranquilised and returned to the zoo. Other were shot by police.

On Tuesday zoo official had said that eight lions, all seven of its tigers and at least two of its three jaguars were killed in the flooding

A number of people remain missing and at least 12 people are known to have died due to the floods.