Fire at London Zoo leads to death of aardvark and four meerkats missing

UPDATE: AFTER 24 hours without any sighting it has now been assumed by London Zoo that the four six-year-old brothers, meerkats Billy, Nigel, Norman and Robbie were killed in the fire.

A FIRE at London Zoo this morning (Saturday) has left an aardvark dead and four meerkats missing.

Ten fire engines and 72 firefighters and officers were called to a fire at a café and shop which were both destroyed along with around half of the adjacent petting zoo.

Sadly London Zoo confirmed that the aardvark called Misha died in the fire and the zoo remained closed as the damage was assessed and a search went on for the missing meerkats.

During the incident one firefighter suffered a minor wrist injury and was taken to hospital as a precaution. Five others were also assessed on the scene by London Ambulance Service but remained on duty.

A statement from London Zoo said “Duty staff that live on site at the zoo were on the scene immediately, and started moving animals to safety.

“A number of zoo staff have been treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and shock.

“The zoo will remain closed until further notice, and we will work closely with fire investigators to determine the cause of the incident.”