[dianakroshXX]

Asia
Home > Breaking News > Asia > Story
Jan 30, 2010

Visitors flee after tiger escape

GUWAHATI (India) - AROUND 10,000 frightened visitors were evacuated from a zoo in north-eastern India on Saturday when two Bengal tigers slinked out of their cage to mingle with the crowd, officials said. The tigers opened the door to the iron enclosures and sneaked out while keepers disinfected the cage at the zoo in Guwahati, the main city in the state of Assam. 'Fortunately the two cats remained inside the zoo complex and did not try to venture out in the streets,' zoo warden Narayan Mahanta told AFP. 'We immediately evacuated the visitors and tried to locate the cats before tranquilising one of them relaxing by the side of a pool inside the zoo,' he added. The second tiger was tranquilised shortly after. None of the estimated 10,000 visitors was injured but many ran for their lives upon seeing the tigers stealthily walk by. The zoo, the largest in India's north-east, was packed with families and students on a weekend break. -- AFP