TBILISI, Georgia — Escaped lions, bears and a hippopotamus from the Tbilisi Zoo were roaming the streets of the Georgian capital Sunday, after flooding killed at least 10 people.

Georgian leaders asked residents to stay inside as they sought to track down the escaped animals, which were adding a chaotic element to an already painful situation. The hippopotamus swam out of its enclosure and onto the central Heroes’ Square before being shot with a tranquilizer dart in front of a Swatch store.

The animals on the loose created an unpredictable backdrop for rescue efforts. Rescuers used rafts and inflatable boats to reach people trapped by flooding. At least one lion and one bear were shot and killed by police officers, and a hyena chased a security guard across part of a university campus before it, too, was shot dead.

Officials said the flooding in the Georgian capital was the worst natural disaster in recent memory. About 1.1 million people live in the Georgian capital.

Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania said on national television that 10 people had been confirmed dead so far and more were missing. Many of the zoo’s animals also perished or were missing.

“The situation is rather difficult,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said. “We haven’t seen anything like this in Tbilisi before.”

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Among the dead was one zoo worker, Guliko Chitadze, who had an arm amputated two weeks ago after a tiger mauled it. She had returned to work just a few days ago. Her zoo worker husband was also killed, zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze said. The workers had spent the night on zoo premises to feed newborn animals.

Sharashidze said bears, lions, tigers, jaguars and wolves were among the animals that escaped.

“I can’t imagine this tragedy,” she said. “Almost the whole zoo is underwater.”

Torrential rains late Saturday and early Sunday poured down on Tbilisi. The Tbilisi Zoo lies along the banks of the Vere River, which overflowed and caught the animals in their pens and cages.

Helicopters were flying over Tbilisi on Sunday, and a rescue effort could be seen underway at the zoo, where debris and mud had overwhelmed many of the enclosures. Other parts of the zoo still were underwater.

Sharashidze said tigers, hyenas and eight lions had disappeared, among many other animals. Six of 17 penguins were saved; the rest washed away. One crocodile was captured, and zoo workers were trying to reach another as of mid-afternoon Sunday.

Sharashidze said there had been a plan several years ago to move the zoo to an expanded location on the Tbilisi Sea, an artificial reservoir. But that plan was abandoned for financial reasons, she said.


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