Dozens of animals die in fire at German zoo

More than 30 animals, including chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, were killed in the New Year’s blaze

January 01, 2020 01:49 PM

Firefighters stand in front of the burning monkey house at Krefeld Zoo, in Krefeld, Germnay, Wednesday Jan 1, 2020. A fire at a zoo in western Germany killed a large number of animals in the early hours of the new year, authorities said.

GERMANY — A fire at Krefeld Zoo in western Germany has killed more than 30 animals, including chimpanzees, orangutans and two elderly gorillas, zoo authorities and emergency services said on Wednesday.

The cause of the fire has not been determined, police said.

Birds and flying foxes also died in the blaze, a zoo spokeswoman said.

A neighboring gorilla enclosure, where a young family of seven gorillas lived, was spared from the fire, the zoo said.

The fire service said they were called at 12:38 a.m. (11:38 p.m. GMT Tuesday) and arrived at the scene within minutes.

By this time, the monkey enclosure had already been consumed by the flames.

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