Tiger on the loose in central Mexico after severe flooding

A Bengal tiger has escaped from a zoo amid severe flooding in Mexico.

The animal escaped from its cage in the Animalia zoo near the municipality of Xicotepec in the central state of Puebla, said Mayor Carlos Barragán on Friday.

The Mexican environmental authority urged residents to be careful and asked them to report any sightings of the tiger, which weighs around 130 kilograms.

Xicotepec is a municipality with around 80,000 inhabitants in a mountainous region of Puebla that was badly affected by the heavy rainfall.

The San Marcos River burst its banks and flooded the surrounding area.

Numerous houses were destroyed and people lost their lives, the mayor in a video. However, an exact number of victims is not available.

The zoo was also affected. “A tiger whose cage collapsed is on the loose, and that worries me a lot,” said the mayor.

Heavy rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in several states in Mexico. Around 30 people have died as a result, according to media reports citing authorities.

The states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla and San Luis Potosí are particularly affected. Entire areas are flooded and numerous communities are cut off from the outside world.