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Gorilla escapes London Zoo enclosure: Primate sparks emergency after break out | Gorilla escapes London Zoo enclosure: Primate sparks emergency after break out |
(35 minutes later) | |
A gorilla sparked a major emergency at London Zoo after breaking out of its enclosure. | |
Although members of the public and staff were locked in, the zoo insisted they were not at risk. | |
Staff armed with tranquiliser darts roamed the zoo looking for the animal, before it was eventually recaptured. | |
The incident came just months after Harambe the gorilla was killed by staff at Cincinatti Zoo as it held a child who had fallen into its enclosure. | |
In a short statement London Zoo had said it was "managing an incident", although a spokesman was unable to confirm to The Independent whether zoo keepers were armed with tranquiliser darts or real bullets. | |
A visitor who was at London Zoo at the time said he had seen the gorilla throwing itself at the window of its enclosure 30 minutes before it escaped. | |
Another visitor, Dr Jonathan Mall, tweeted during the incident: “Huddling in a building at the London Zoo after staff told us to get into a building quickly." | |
Eyewitness Brad Evans told BBC Radio London he had been "locked in" before seeing police turn up "with loads of guns". | |
Mr Evans said: "We were having a cup of coffee in the main restaurant area when they locked us all in and said there was an incident. | |
"They gave us free teas and coffees and obviously we were asking what was going on and they told us that a gorilla had got out of its enclosure. | |
"As we were waiting we saw the police turning up in numbers with loads of guns." | |
The Met confirmed they got the first call from the Zoo at 5.17pm, and the animal was recaptured shortly before 6.30pm. | |
A police spokesman later told The Independent the "incident has been concluded". | |
The animal's condition remains unclear. | |
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