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Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the Karlsruhe Zoo, in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Germany
Fire at German zoo kills 26 animals
Shetland ponies, goats, sheep and a llama perished in the fire that engulfed a petting zoo in the early hours of Saturday morning.
A FIRE WHICH broke out in a zoo in south-western Germany killed 26 animals in the early hours of Saturday morning, including Shetland ponies, goats, sheep and a llama.
Police in Karlsruhe say that the animals perished overnight after their petting zoo enclosures caught fire. It took 100 firefighters to put out the flames and rescue the zoos elephants, hippos and flamingos from nearby enclosures – although one elephant suffered slight burns.
Strong winds had threatened to carry the flames to nearby buildings.
The cause of the fire is not yet known but authorities have launched an investigation.
It s understood that, apart from the petting zoo area, the wider zoo will open as usual on Sunday.
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