A San Francisco Zoo visitor attacked by an escaped tiger is carried away on a stretcher. Photo by cnn.com
An escaped Siberian tiger attacked and killed one zoo patron and injured two others Tuesday afternoon in a cafe at the San Francisco Zoo, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Fire Department told CNN.
The tiger was shot and killed by police, Fire Department Lt. Mindy Talmadge said. Both of the injured victims were transported to San Francisco General Hospital, she added.
Dr. Eric Isaacs said the two men, aged 19 and 23, were in serious but stable condition with multiple lacerations.
"I believe there was probably some blood loss at the zoo, but here they are talking, they are alert, their vital signs are stable at this time," Isaacs said, adding that both men could be released as early as Wednesday.
Authorities were notified of an escaped tiger around 5:15 p.m. PT (0115 GMT), shortly after the 78-year-old zoo's 5 p.m. closing time, Talmadge said.
"Apparently right around closing time -- there was a pen with four tigers in it -- one of the tigers got out," Talmadge said. "The tiger went into a cafe at the zoo and attacked a patron. That person ended up dying at the scene."
Police arrived on the scene as the tiger attacked two other patrons, Talmadge said.
"They shot the tiger, and the tiger is deceased," she said.
Talmadge said the 125-acre zoo was locked down after the incident and all the facility's other animals were accounted for, including three other tigers that had been in the same enclosure with the escaped tiger.