10,000 Indian zoo visitors flee after tigers escape

Around 10,000 frightened visitors were evacuated from a zoo in northeastern India when two Bengal tigers sneaked out of their cage to mingle with the crowd.

The tigers opened the door to the iron enclosures and padded 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 said.

"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 northeast, was packed with families and students on a weekend break.