Moscow, Apr. 16, (dpa/GNA) – More than 200 exotic animals have died in a fire in a Crimean zoo, media reports on the Russian-occupied peninsula said on Tuesday.
“The main reason for the tragedy lies in the late discovery of the fire,” an emergency services spokesman told the RBK news website. The emergency call went out some two and a half hours after midnight.
By the time the fire services arrived, the five-storey building over 600 square metres housing the zoo was ablaze, with the flames fed by the building’s wooden roof and straw lying in the animal enclosures.
The cause of the fire is believed to have been an electrical short circuit.
The fire services were able to save a woman from the burning building, along with two bears.
The other animals, including crocodiles, chameleons, large snakes, turtles, capybaras and capuchin monkeys died in the blaze.