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Deadly Mauling at San Francisco Zoo; Lone Survivor: Girl Rescued From Plane Crash; Underwater Ecosystem in Bali Uses Clever Technology
Aired December 26, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: How does a zoo lose track of a 300- pound tiger with a taste for blood? The burning question after a deadly mauling in San Francisco.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And how did a 13-year-old girl survive a plane crash that killed everybody else on board? We've got an amazing story from remote western Panama.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Kyra Phillips.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
First this hour, we want to take you to Beverly, Massachusetts. These pictures coming in courtesy of our affiliate WHDH.
This is a three-alarm fire at -- pardon -- yes, a three-alarm fire at a three-story apartment building there in Beverly. Just to give you a sense of where this is, it's about 25 miles northeast of Boston along the coast, on the north shore.
Several fire engines have responded. Obviously, you can see there is a lot of smoke. This has been ongoing for sometime at this point. But again, a three-alarm fire about 20 miles northeast of Boston on the north shore in Beverly, Massachusetts. The good news here, no injuries reported so far.
We're going to keep bringing you details right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: A tiger goes on the hunt, people become it's prey. Now investigators are retracing the predator's path. They're out in force at the San Francisco Zoo, where the tiger escaped its enclosure on Christmas Day, killing one man and mauling two others.
CNN's Dan Simon has the very latest for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big question today, of course, is how something like this could happen. Well, we want to address something from the start. There have been some media reports suggesting that the three people who were attacked by the tiger somehow taunted the animal prior to the attack. Well, according to the San Francisco Police Department, that is totally untrue. There is absolutely no evident at this time to suggest those three people somehow taunted the tiger.
Let me tell you what's happening today.
We saw some police officers go on their motorcycles. They went into the zoo to see if in fact there actually might be more victims inside the zoo. This was simply a precautionary move. We do know, of course, that three people were attacked by this tiger, one person killed, two other people injured. We are told fortunately that those two people who survived the attack are in very good condition.
DR. ROCHELLE DICKER, SURGEON, SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL HOSPITAL: Our two victims, I'm happy to report, are doing very well right now. They are in very stable condition. They rested overnight after they were taken to the operating room for cleaning and closure of their wounds.
Right now I can tell you that they're in good spirits and they look absolutely fantastic. They have youth going for them and a lot of good health behind them when they first came in here.
SIMON: In terms of how this Siberian tiger may have escaped its enclosure, the operating theory at this point is that the tiger literally would have had to leap over its own exhibit, because zoo officials tell us that there simply isn't a door where the tiger just could have walked out.
Again, we're still trying to determine what may have unfolded here. Investigators, of course, still on the scene trying to determine a cause.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Dan. Thanks for that.
Siberian tigers are an endangered species. More live in zoos than in the wild.
Worldwide, more than 600 are living in captivity. Adult male Siberians are nine to 11 feet long and weight between 450 and 600 pounds. Females are eight to nine feet long, 250 to 400 pounds.
The tigers have retractable claws, and their night vision is six times better than humans. The adults, well, they need about 10 pounds of meat a day, but they can eat as much as 90 pounds at a time.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: A California girl who's a lone survivor of a plane crash in Panama is now being treated in a hospital, and rescuers spent hours trudging through wilderness to get to the crash site where they found 13-year-old Francesca Lewis not only alive, but she was walking around. Well, the crash killed the girl's friend and her friend's father, a California businessman, both seen here.
The pilot, he also died in the crash, and the plane went down Sunday in bad weather. It was near a volcano. The wreckage was found on Christmas Day. Lewis was suffering from hypothermia and a broken arm.
And if you're home now, you want to pay attention to this because Valerie Lewis' mother -- she's the mother of the survivor, I should say -- is on the ground.
Valerie Lewis, mother of the survivor, and she is Francesca. She joins us now on the phone. This is happening just as I was reading the story.
Thank you for joining us today. I imagine it is sort of bittersweet for you.
VALERIE LEWIS, DAUGHTER SURVIVED CRASH: Yes, that's right. It's very tragic that the others didn't survive.
LEMON: Yes. How is she doing? How is Francesca doing?
LEWIS: She's doing all right. She's having tests done at the hospital right now, and so far things seem good.
LEMON: Yes.
LEWIS: Kind of miraculous.
LEMON: Yes. Why do you say that?
LEWIS: Well, we don't know the whole story, but she definitely either fell or was ejected from the aircraft. We don't know.
LEMON: Yes.
LEWIS: So the fact that she so far doesn't seem to have any major damage is -- seems incredible.
LEMON: Yes, it does. And you said she's doing OK. She's talking to you, right?
LEWIS: She has talked to us, yes.
LEMON: She has spoken to you. Tell us about her and what kind -- what is she saying? Does she remember anything about the crash or not?
LEWIS: We haven't really talked about that much yet, and she -- she found herself -- well, when they found her she was under the wing, and she thought she had been sleeping and that she would wake up and see -- she thought she was in her home and that there was -- why was there an airplane wing in her home? So she was delirious. I don't know if she was in and out of this sleep state or if that was sort of a preservation mode because she was in extreme weather conditions. It was very cold, raining very hard, pretty much constantly for two and a half days. So I think her body was in survival mode.
LEMON: I wanted to ask you, because as I read in this report, they said that she was up and walking around. Is that correct?
LEWIS: You know, we're not sure about that. We haven't heard anything about that, but we have not yet gotten to talk to the people who actually found her. And we want to do that so we can hear exactly what they found and how they found her.
But I believe she was lying down and then they carefully moved her onto a gurney. And then they had to carry her three and a half hours to a helicopter...
LEMON: Oh, goodness.
LEWIS: ... through extremely rugged terrain in torrential rain.
LEMON: Tell us, between Sunday and the time they found Francesca, what was that time like for you?
LEWIS: It was a nightmare. It was a living nightmare.
And we -- as soon as we got the call, we tried to get on the first plane we could, and, you know, we flew all night and then arrived in Bocate (ph) in the late afternoon the next day, and then spent all our time with the rescue group, which was very large. And many, many local people participated. There were hundreds of people on foot climbing in the most rugged terrain, looking for her, looking for them.
And we tried to be as involved as we could with helping to talk to people and find out who needed what in just directions and supplies. And family members of Michael Klein live in the area, and they were extremely involved also.
LEMON: And I imagine that people are wondering how are you getting through this. Are you just living on adrenaline right now?
LEWIS: Yes, I guess so. We're just -- we're so relieved to have her with us.
LEMON: Anything you want to say to the family of those who didn't make it, Ms. Lewis?
LEWIS: My heart goes out to everyone. We all have -- have been through a tremendous trauma together.
LEMON: Yes.
Tell us a little bit about Francesca, if you will. What kind of girl is she? LEWIS: Pardon?
LEMON: Tell us a little bit about Francesca.
LEWIS: Oh, she's just a regular 13-year-old healthy girl with -- having a good time at school, playing sports, doing things with her friends.
LEMON: Yes. And then now has survived something that seems horrific and unbelievable.
LEWIS: Yes.
LEMON: So our very best to you this holiday season. We're very happy that she is OK. And again, as well, bittersweet for everyone who has been paying attention to this.
Any last words?
LEWIS: I just want to thank all of the people that cared so much about trying to help us. I mean, so many people tried to help, and at great effort and sacrifice, and through the Christmas holiday. I mean, the most important family holiday people were giving up that to go and trudge through the mud looking -- it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. So we really appreciate everything that was done.
LEMON: Valerie Lewis, the mother of the survivor, Francesca.
Will you give our best to Francesca, please?
LEWIS: Yes.
LEMON: Thank you.
LEWIS: Thank you. Bye.
LEMON: We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The final stretch of the Iowa caucuses. Our Bill Schneider will tell us who's up, who's down, and what to expect.
KEILAR: And why Carson Daly returned to late-night television despite the writers' strike.
LEMON: Plus, some young National Guard members will see a familiar face when they deploy to Iraq next week -- their former teacher, as we will see. We'll tell you why Jonathan Marion (ph) is exchanging his grading book for a gun.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT) LEMON: In the Panama mountains a story of death and survival. A plane crash kills this California man and his 13-year-old daughter. Now the teenager is rescued. Hear what her mother just told us live, right here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): We've come to Pamuto Lang (ph) beach on the remote north coast of Bali, to scuba dive on a remarkable project. Under these sparkling waters, there is a reef teeming with fish and coral. But what's amazing is this whole underwater ecosystem has been rebuilt using some very clever technology called biorock.
A few years ago, huge steel frames were lowered into the shallow waters where the natural reef was damaged beyond repair. Then coral that was about to die was grafted on to these structures.
TOM GOREAU, PROJECT CO-FOUNDER: We swim around the reef and we look for naturally broken corals, things that are going to die. So we rescue those and we tie those on and we let them grow very fast.
RIVERS: And that's possible because of these wires. And this is the really clever part of the project.
A small electrical current is fed under water to the metal structures. Nearby, other cables are linked to a titanium mesh, like this one on the seabed. It acts as an anode. And by the magic of electrolysis, when the current is switched on, limestone literally grows around the metal frames. But it also raises the coral's metabolism, protecting them from warming seas.
As biorock grows, more coral grows, more fish are attracted, along with more ecotourists. Its structure costs just a few hundred dollars. If the project had serious funding, thousand more metal structures could be put in place. With rising sea temperatures from global warming, this might be the best way to stop them disappearing forever.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Bali.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, that is a very nice shot of the atrium right down -- people are out there...
KEILAR: It sure is. Right outside our window.
LEMON: Yes. And probably doing some last-minute shopping in the Turner store. What do you think?
KEILAR: Very last minute.
LEMON: Last minute. KEILAR: They're in big trouble.
LEMON: I should say after-Christmas shopping.
KEILAR: Don?
LEMON: Well, you know, it's been a long holiday week.
Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon, I think, live in the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar in for Kyra Phillips.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
At this hour, we are awaiting a press conference coming from San Francisco Zoo officials. Of course, a news conference having to do with yesterday's tiger attack. Tatiana, a Siberian tiger, killed a zoo-goer yesterday, wounded two others who are in the hospital recovering pretty well, say hospital officials.
That tiger was killed by police who responded yesterday. And there's still a lot of questions here. The zoo has had some officials who have been searching the grounds, really just checking to see if maybe there were other victims, although they weren't inspecting, they're just doing due diligence there.
But also, questions about how this animal escaped its enclosure. There's a 20-foot fence, a 15-foot moat. Zoo officials have said there wasn't a situation where a door was left open or anything like that, so people want to know how did this tiger escape, killing a zoo- goer and wounding two others.
Again, we are awaiting a news conference from San Francisco Zoo officials. As soon as it begins, we will bring it to you here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: In the meantime, a California girl, who is a lone survivor of a plane crash in Panama, is now being treated in a hospital. Rescuers spent hours trudging through wilderness to get to the crash site where they found 13-year-old, Francesca Lewis, not only alive, but they say she was walking around. The crash killed the girl's friend and her friend's father, a California businessman, both seen here, in that picture.
The pilot also died. That plane went down on Sunday, in bad weather, near a volcano. The wreckage was found on Christmas day. Lewis was suffering from hypothermia and a broken arm when they found her. Earlier, we spoke with her mother, Valery Lewis, the mother of Francesca who is that lone survivor.
It was an unbelievable interview and here's what she had to say just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VOICE OF VALERY LEWIS, DAUGHTER SURVIVED PLANE CRASH: Yes, that's right, it's very tragic that the others didn't survive.
LEMON: How is she doing? How's Francesca doing?
LEWIS: She's doing all right. She's having tests done at the hospital right now. And so far, things seem good.
LEMON: Yes.
LEWIS: Kind of miraculous.
LEMON: Yes, why do you say that?
LEWIS: We don't know the whole story, but she definitely either fell or was ejected from the aircraft. We don't know. So, the fact she, so far, doesn't seem to have any major damage is -- seems incredible.
LEMON: Yes it does. And you said she's doing OK. Is she talking to you, right?
LEWIS: She has talked to us, yes.
LEMON: She has spoken to you. Tell us about her and what kind -- what does is she saying? Does she remember anything about the crash or not?
LEWIS: We haven't really talked about that much yet. And she -- she found herself -- well, when they found her she was under the wing and she thought she had been sleeping and that she would wake up and see a -- she thought she was in her home and that there was -- why was there an airplane wing in her home?
So she was delirious. I don't know if she was in and out of this sleep state or if that was sort of a preservation mode, because she was in extreme weather conditions. It was very cold, raining very hard, pretty much constantly for 2 1/2 days. So, I think her body was in survival mode.
LEMON: I wanted to ask you, because as I read in this report, they said that she was up and walking around.
LEWIS: You know...
LEMON: Is that correct?
LEWIS: ...we're not sure about that. We haven't heard anything about that. But we have not yet gotten to talk to the people who actually found her. And we want to do that so we that we can hear exactly what they found and how they found her. But I believe she was lying down and then they carefully moved her onto a gurney and then they had to carry her 3 1/2 hours to a helicopter.
LEMON: Oh, goodness.
LEWIS: Through extremely rugged terrain in torrential rain.
LEMON: Tell us, between Sunday and the time they found Francesca, what was that time like for you?
LEWIS: It was a nightmare, it was a living nightmare. And we -- as soon as we got the call, we tried to get on the first plane we could, and, you know, we flew all night and then arrived in Boquete in the late afternoon the next day. And then just spent all our time with the rescue group, which was very large and many, many local people participated.
There were hundreds of people on foot, climbing in the most rugged terrain, looking for her, looking for them. And we tried to be as involved as we could with helping to talk to people and find out who needed what and just directions and supplies. And family members of Michael Klein live in the area, and they were extremely involved also.
LEMON: And I imagine that people are wondering how are you getting through this. Are you just living on adrenaline right now?
LEWIS: Yes, I guess so. We're just so relieved to have her with us.
LEMON: Anything you want to say to the family of those who didn't make it, Ms. Lewis?
LEWIS: My heart goes out to everyone. We all have been through tremendous trauma together.
LEMON: Yes. Tell us a little bit about Francesca, if you will. What kind of girl is she?
LEWIS: Pardon.
LEMON: Tell us a little bit about Francesca.
LEWIS: She's just a regular 13-year-old healthy girl, having a good time at school, playing sports, doing things with her friends.
LEMON: Yes. And then now, has survived something that seems horrific and unbelievable.
LEWIS: Yes.
LEMON: So, our very best to you this holiday season. We're very happy that she is OK. And, again, as well bittersweet for everyone who has been paying attention to this. Any last words?
LEWIS: I just want to thank all of the people that cared so much about trying to help us. So many people tried to help and at great effort and sacrifice, and through the Christmas holiday. The most important family holiday, people were giving up that to go and trudge through the mud, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. So, we really appreciate everything that was done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That is the mother of Francesca Lewis, that was Valery Lewis there. And if we can cue, can you re-rack (ph) that video Scottie (ph), this is new video that just came in of that rescue effort. All those rescuers that Ms. Lewis spoke about, and who she thanked, these are those folks there as they were getting her into the helicopter and taking her away.
Again, she survived this. This plane went down on Sunday night and then they found it on Christmas, which was on Tuesday, yesterday. So she was out there in that weather for several days. The person that you see there getting in to -- in the black and white -- that's the mom we just spoke to. And we believe the mom spoke to us from the hospital because -- as she talked to us about taking a flight down, and having to wait and what have you, as she waited for Francesca, who was 13-years-old, to be rescued and to see her daughter who had been rescued.
The other people on board, the mother -- the father I should say, his little girl as well as a pilot all died. And Francesca, 13-years- old, survived this. The mom told us, just moments ago, they found her under the wing. We're going to continue to follow this story. If we get any more video, any more information about it, we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KEILAR: Eight days before the Iowa caucuses, polls showing a lot of Iowans still haven't made of their minds. And our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is in Des Moines, dressed for the weather, and I like to think our enjoyment.
Bill, let's talk about who's there. Republican Mike Huckabee, as you know of course, trying to steal this victory. But we also hear John McCain is showing signs of life, too. So, what are they trying to accomplish here in the next week ahead of the caucuses?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well here in Iowa they're trying to play a game with expectations. Mike Huckabee is on the defensive, he's trying to protect what has been his lead in the polls, but it might be getting narrower. He's expected to do well in Iowa. If he doesn't, he'll be in real trouble. So he's gone out pheasant hunting today, which is kind of an implicit contrast with Mitt Romney who talked about how often he's gone hunting. It turned out to be not that often. But he's -- Huckabee is protecting his lead.
John McCain had seemed to write off Iowa. He didn't campaign here in 2000. He didn't participate in the Iowa straw poll. So the expectation has been very low for John McCain. He's showing up in Iowa tonight. Surprisingly, he's trying to do better than expected. If he were to come in, say third in Iowa, that would raise some eyebrows. It might set him up very well to, perhaps, win in New Hampshire.
KEILAR: Let's talk about Democrats. Who has the most to win? Who has the most to lose here in the next week or so?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think Hillary Clinton, if she were to win the Iowa caucus, that would be a tremendous victory for her, and might propel her towards the nomination. If she were to lose, it could be a long, drawn-out race. So she has a lot to lose. John Edwards really is counting on winning Iowa, where he spent a lot of time since 2004 when he came in a strong second, here in Iowa. If he does not win Iowa, he could have big problems.
KEILAR: And Bill, we've talked about how candidates really have run the risk of maybe overdoing it here during the holiday season, so I guess the question is how do you campaign on Christmas without really campaigning on Christmas? And one candidate had the answer, right?
SCHNEIDER: Right, He didn't actually have a campaign event. There was no rally, there were no speeches. He just went ice skating, and that was Christopher Dodd. He went ice-skating with his family. It was a way of being seen, no one else was in evidence on Christmas day, there was nothing untoward about it, it was just a recreational activity. But it communicated to the voters in Iowa, Hey, I'm there with you on the holidays, I'm with my family, I'm one of you. And the message was heard.
KEILAR: It could have been a different situation, I think, if he had fallen down. I know, he must be a better ice skater than I am.
SCHNEIDER: He had great confidence that he would not.
KEILAR: He certainly did, maybe he took it easy. All right, Bill Schneider there for us in Des Moines, thanks so much.
And for all the day's political stories, log on to our special political news Web site. It's at CNNpolitics.com.
LEMON: A tiger mauls three people, killing one of them, and we're awaiting a news conference. Live pictures now, let's take you there from San Francisco -- actually we'll get to that later. This is video of a Siberian Tiger. We're going to bring that to you just as soon as that news conference gets under way. It's expected to start at any minute.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, a 300lb Siberian Tiger attacks three people, kills one of them. What happened at the San Francisco zoo? Where zoo officials in San Francisco about to hold a press conference at any moment now. As soon as that happens, we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KEILAR: And let's get now to the CNN weather center, with Chad Meyers. There are people on the roads, no doubt a lot of people are watching from the airports. What can we tell them, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, so far the airports are doing OK, I mean 30-minute delays, that's not a problem, really. When you get to two to three hours, that's when people start really getting cranky, and you start getting flights canceled. At 30 minutes, we're still getting most of the flights in and out. But it will get snowy across I-80, I-70, I-29, the 25 corridor here and Denver, all the way down to pueblo. Four to eight inches of snow expected for Denver in the next 48 hours, starting tonight.
But here's a shot from Denver. It doesn't get a lot prettier than this. Sunshine on the snow, snow blind out there in the Rockies. I was just on traffic.com, which is a phenomenal new Web site you can get on to. You can get e-mail alerts to your cell phone or whatever. And I- 70 is pretty slow, leaving Denver, getting up into the mountains. And I suspect people are trying to get there, and a little bit of light snow possible out there in the mountains tonight. That could slow you down you. It seems you're always driving in the mountains during the day, compared to what you're going to see tonight. You can get some blowing snow across some of those runways and some of those roadways.
Other than that, we have three areas of interest, one in the east, one in the Midwest and all the way out towards the pacific northwest, causing a few airport delays. Now, LaGuardia, it's not because you have bad weather, it's because you have too good weather. It's so nice that all the planes are taking off to you, and now we're getting departure delays of about an hour, and that's now increasing.
For most of the day it's been less than that. White Plains, Aspen and Eagle seeing some arrival delays. And I suppose if you're 30 minutes late into Aspen, you don't really care, as long as you're still going to aspen. Fort Myers, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, all a little bit slow at this point -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Thirty minutes, 45 minutes, we'll take it, Chad. That's not too bad.
MYERS: You give me a plane 45 minutes late to Aspen right now, I'll take it.
KEILAR: Me too. Thank you, Chad.
LEMON: Well, they had been holding out hopes since Sunday night and finally on Christmas they got word their daughter had been found. Earlier in the CNN Newsroom we spoke with Valery Lewis, the mother of the lone survivor, 13-year-old Francesca Lewis, and this new video is just in of that rescue into CNN.
But also, moments ago the father of Francesca Lewis, on the phone and cameras caught up with him as he was speaking to his daughter. Let's take a listen from Panama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRK LEWIS, DAUGHTER SURVIVED PLANE CRASH: Hey, sweetie. We're going to see you real soon. They're bringing you down, and Mom and Rosie is here too. Okay. Okay. Bye, sweetheart. Bye-bye, see you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Wow, Kirk Lewis is the father of Francesca. And you can't help but watch that and listen to it and become emotional. Just imagine hearing that your daughter's plane is missing, and you have no idea where she is. It went down in a volcano, a volcanic area, and then getting the word several days later she had actually been found, she was OK, but everyone else on the plane had perished, except for your daughter. That was Kirk Lewis, his 13-year-old daughter, Vanessa, I should say Francesca, was found under the wing of that plane.
The other three people on board the plane, a father and daughter and also the pilot of the plane all perished in that. Earlier we spoke with the mom who was at the hospital with her daughter. She said they had been living on adrenaline for the last couple of days, and in her words she said it's been a living nightmare.
Live pictures now of a press conference, And this press conference is happening in San Francisco, and this is the tiger attack and mauling that happened at the San Francisco Zoo. A Siberian Tiger attacked three people, got out of its cage. And let's take a listen in now.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MANUEL MOLLINEDO, DIRECTOR OF S.F. ZOO: ...we had one fatality and two serious injuries, and also had one of our Siberian tigers killed. There's a present -- presently there's an ongoing investigation going on regarding how that situation occurred.
We're still not too clear as to exactly what transpired. For that reason, I made the decision to keep the zoo closed today. I anticipate that hopefully we'll be able to open the zoo tomorrow, but if we do open the zoo, the lion house is going to be off exhibit, and not open to the public until we get a better understanding of what actually happened yesterday evening.
I am going have -- I'm going to be working with my staff to do a thorough analysis of the existing outdoor large cat exhibits, to assure that they are safe, see what type of modifications need to be done in order to ensure animal safety and the public safety.
I'm also planning on bringing in several colleagues from accredited AZA zoos within the United States to come out and help me re-evaluate the outdoor lion exhibit, the big cat exhibits that we have here at the San Francisco Zoo, so that we can have a better way of managing these animals in the future.
I would also ask that all of the media be respectful of the zoo. We do have a living collection here. We have many, many animals that become very frightened with the helicopters flying overhead. So I would really be very grateful if you could ask your helicopters to stay away because we -- I don't want any further injuries, I don't want any injuries to our animals because of all of the commotion that's caused by the hovering and flying over of helicopters which have really come down quite low over the zoo this morning.
At this time, I'd like to turn this over to our chief of police, Heather Fong. CHIEF HEATHER FONG, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: Thank you. Good morning. Last night, shortly after 5:00 p.m., police and fire dispatch received a call that there was a tiger loose in the zoo and that potentially, there had been people injured. Police and fire units responded.
Police units responded to the area by the Terrace Cafe where they saw a tiger sitting next to a person who was on the ground. The tiger turned back and began to attack that person again. Officers yelled at the tiger, yelled at the animal to stop, they did not fire immediately for fear that they would not be able to contain their fire at the animal.
When the yelling was occurring, the animal turned and now turned towards the officers. And it is at that time that they fired and dispatched the animal. Medics were on scene immediately and rendered first aid, and took that victim to the hospital.
As the zoo director mentioned, there are three victims in total. One was deceased, two are at San Francisco General Hospital. Following containment of the situation and confirmation that there were no other tigers that were loose in the zoo, our officers then conducted three searches up until midnight last night to ensure that there were no additional victims that we were unaware of.
The first of the searches was conducted with the assistance of the California Highway Patrol Helicopter. Not only did they have a spotlight, but also a flare (ph) system. The second search was conducted with the assistance of the San Francisco Fire Department with their thermal imaging systems as well as their lighting systems. And the third was to, again, walk through all of the zoo area.
This morning in daylight, again another thorough walk-through was done, and we are confident that there are no additional victims. We also have not received any phone calls either at the zoo or at dispatch reporting any missing person that had said they were coming to the zoo. So, we're confident that there are only the three victims that we are aware of.
Because we're not certain whether this incident occurred as a result of human action or whether this was an incident where the animal was able to get out of the grotto, we have deemed the site as of last night a crime scene. We want to ensure that we gather all evidence, so that in the event that there is any human involvement in the situation that we can have the evidence to determine that.
And so, at this time, we are gathering not only physical evidence from a number of areas in the zoo and in the vicinity of where the attacks occurred, but also taking statements from all individuals who may have information about what occurred, who may have observed any situations occur.
And at the conclusion of that investigation, then we will be able to provide a preliminary assessment as to specifically what may have resulted in the tiger getting out of the grotto area and then injuring those parties that were -- are the victims. At this time, that's an update on what the police department is doing. And we too appreciate the cooperation with the staff here at the zoo. Obviously, it was a very chaotic situation, but with all of the emergency service staff who responded and the zoo personnel, we believe that we were able to limit the injury to thankfully, only the three individuals.
LEMON: All right. The police chief there in San Francisco and also the director of the San Francisco Zoo holding a press conference, giving the details of what they know at this point happened. They're going to take some Q&A now about this attack. And let's listen in.
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QUESTION: And that they went in this morning with that theory, or that possibility, very serious as they went in, to do more of this investigation, can you comment on that?
FONG: That's the purpose of the investigation, to look at all statements that can be provided to us and not to speculate, but to actually have statements told to us about what people saw. If they heard rumors that doesn't count, they have to have seen it, and also to look at any physical evidence that might be able to show us if that is the case.
QUESTION: The tiger maybe had gone out of his way to go after somebody? Is that a possibility?
FONG: The purpose of the physical evidence is to not only look at that but listen to the statements and to be able to say definitively, this is how we think something happened. Yes?
QUESTION: How long was this tiger on the loose? And if you can't give us specifics, how long from the first 911 call to the first moment of that you contacted with your officers?
FONG: The first 911 call was dispatched at 5:07, and that was actually through fire dispatch. And a minute later, police dispatch was dispatched because of the potential that this was now more than just a medical call.
QUESTION: 5:07 was the first call, so how many minutes until you contacted it, which would give us a better sense of how many minutes this tiger was on the loose?
FONG: I'd have to get specific, I'd have to actually look on that cad. Because once your officers got on scene, it was chaotic, and they went into action. But we can look at the cad and provide that to you shortly.
QUESTION: Chief, what are the two survivors victims telling you?
FONG: That is part of the criminal investigation and as such, I'm not able to discuss that with you now, but once we are able to provide an update based on that criminal investigation, then we will be able to share more of that. QUESTION: ...fired, do you know? Do you know how many rounds were fired?
FONG: I do not have that number. That -- we have a protocol, whenever there's an officer involved in a discharge or shooting, there is a separate investigation, and that started last night as well.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) how the tiger got out of the enclosure?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
FONG: There were four officers there.
QUESTION: Chief, chief, do you know how the tiger got out of the exhibit?
FONG: As I mentioned, that's the purpose of the criminal investigation, to determine if there was human involvement in the tiger getting out or if the tiger was able to get out on its own. And we will be able to tell you more once we have the physical evidence and/or statements that can justify our conclusions.
QUESTION: Is there camera footage at the zoo, is there some footage of the enclosure?
FONG: To my knowledge, there is no video footage in the zoo.
QUESTION: Why wasn't Tatiana put down after the first attack last year on the zoo keeper?
MOLLINEDO: The reason -- Tatiana -- there was never consideration to putting Tatiana down when that first incident occurred. The tiger was acting like a normal tiger does. We've since modified the back holding area -- the front holding area where the public has the viewing of those animals, so it's a much safer area.
I don't anticipate that a situation like that would ever occur again. This incident is totally separate and apart from that particular incident. This happened, in my opinion, at the front and the open area animal exhibits.
QUESTION: Why was it necessary for police to intervene? Are your staff trained and authorized to shoot down an animal that's on the loose?
MOLLINEDO: We do have a response team to shoot animals. The situation happened so quickly that when the police department arrived, they initially responded to a situation that they thought where somebody was just injured at the zoo. We did not realize at the time when the first call went out that a tiger had actually escaped.
QUESTION: How many people were still around? How many customers?
MOLLINEDO: We're estimating -- it was after 5:00, the zoo had already closed, people were already leaving the zoo. We anticipate there were probably about 20 visitors still left in the zoo. It was mainly staff that was here.
QUESTION: Was the enclosure and what it would have taken for this cat to get out?
MOLLINEDO: I beg your pardon?
QUESTION: Describe the enclosure, once its tail (ph) goes in, is it electrified up on top. We know it's a 20-foot wall and the moat. Can you describe it a bit more and tell us what it would have taken for this cat to get out of that enclosure.
MOLLINEDO: I wasn't there, I didn't see it, all I can tell you is it's an open exit. There's a 20-foot moat and an 18-foot wall. That's all I can really share with you right now.
QUESTION: One more question.
QUESTION: Given your expertise, Mr. Mollinedo, is it possible ...
QUESTION: I guess it was September when you opened, or it was August, and Tatiana came back out on display, her behavior seemed -- I mean, remembering talking to (INAUDIBLE) about some time. She was pacing and pawing, and she just seemed a little -- and some of the other tigers as well, sort of a little bit, sort of disturbed and you felt that this was normal behavior? In retrospect, were there warning signs?
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