Employee killed as 2 tigers escape from Indonesian zoo

Two tigers escaped from a zoo in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, with one of the animals killing an employee who tried to stop them, according to local media reports on Saturday.

The white tigers ran away from Zinka Zoo in Singkawang district on Friday after a rain-triggered landslide and subsequent flooding damaged their enclosure, according to zoo official Elka Surya.

“The landslide created a big hole in the tigers’ enclosure, allowing them to escape,’’ Elka said, according to the state Antara news agency.

An employee tried to stop the tigers but was attacked and killed, Elka said.

One of the tigers was shot and killed on Saturday morning, CNN Indonesia reported.

A team is searching for the other one, it added.

“We used a tranquillizer but it didn’t work. We shot it because we feared it was running to residential areas,’’ local conservation chief Sadtata Noor Adirahmanta told the broadcaster.