Runaway tiger kills man in Tbilisi after flood damages zoo

People stand by the destroyed embankment of the Vere river after Sunday's flooding, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, June 15, 2015. Workers and volunteers labored Monday in a flood-ravaged area of the Georgian capital to help victims while nervously watching for traces of dangerous animals that may have escaped the city zoo when it was inundated by the surging waters. Officials in the ex-Soviet republic said 14 people were confirmed dead. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) People stand by the destroyed embankment of the Vere river after Sunday's flooding, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, June 15, 2015. Workers and volunteers labored Monday in a flood-ravaged area of the Georgian capital to help victims while nervously watching for traces of dangerous animals that may have escaped the city zoo when it was inundated by the surging waters. Officials in the ex-Soviet republic said 14 people were confirmed dead. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

By Associated Press June 17, 2015 2 min read

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – A tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at the Tbilisi Zoo mauled a man to death Wednesday before being shot by police.

The Interior Ministry in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said the tiger was hiding at an abandoned factory that had been turned into a construction market when he attacked the man Wednesday. The victim later died of his wounds at a hospital.

“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,” colleague Alexander Shavbulashvili told The Associated Press. “We broke the window of another room to flee, and the sound of breaking glass must have scared it and it ran away.”

Police commandos rushed to the site and killed the tiger.

“It was a white tiger,” Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri told the AP. “We wanted to sedate it, but it was very aggressive and we had to liquidate it.”