06 gennaio 2008

Si potrebbe andare tutti quanti allo zoo comunale

Il giorno di Natale una tigre uscita dal suo recinto dello zoo di San Francisco ha attaccato e ucciso un ragazzo diciassettenne in circostanze che ancora non sono state ben chiarite. Giorni fa ho letto sulle agenzie americane che la polizia di SF aveva rilasciato le trascrizioni dei contatti radio tra i componenti della squadra di pronto intervento. E ora la rivista online Slate pubblica con grande rilievo i verbali di queste trascrizioni. E' una lettura (troppo lunga per riportarla qui per intero) molto interessante che fa luce, come si dice, "sulla dinamica dell'incidente" e sulla successiva azione di soccorso. La tigre, Tatiana, è stata abbattuta dopo aver ferito mortalmente il diciassettenne Carlos Souza, dopo che quest'ultimo, a quanto sembra, era riuscito a distrarre l'animale e a far scappare al sicuro due amici.

Moments before the San Francisco Zoo's 5 p.m. closing on Christmas Day, a 350-pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana escaped the "big cat grotto" and attacked three young visitors. Pages from a transcript of the San Francisco Police Department's radio transmissions (see below and the following four pages) tell the story. Seventeen-year-old Carlos Souza Jr., who died from the attack outside the tiger pen, is believed to have lured the cat away from his friend Kulbir Dhaliwal, 19, only to be mauled himself. Kulbir and his brother Paul Dhaliwal, 23, fled about 300 yards to the terrace cafe (see a zoo map here), where a zoo employee called 911.

The first radio entry (below) was at 5:08 p.m.: "A VERY AGGITATED [sic] MALE IS CLAIMING HE WAS BITTEN BY AN ANIMAL. … MALE IS BLEEDING FROM THE HEAD." As the zoo was evacuated ("ZOO PERSONNEL ARE GOING AROUND TO ADV PEOPLE TO LEAVE"), rescue squads were initially hesitant to enter the grounds until Tatiana was located ("MEDICS ARE OUTSIDE WILL NOT ENTER TILL SECURE," Page 2). At one point, the zookeepers may have believed the danger to the victims had passed ("ZOO PERSONNEL HAVE THE TIGER IN SIGHT AND ARE DEALING WITH IT. THE VICT IS ACROSS THE ZOO INSIDE A CAFÉ," Page 2). But a few minutes later, Tatiana tracked the brothers to the snack bar while officers radioed, "SCENE IS NOT SAFE" and "SCENE IS NOT SECURE" (Page 3). At 5:27 p.m., police witnessed Tatiana attacking Paul Dhaliwal: "CODE 33. HAVE TIGER ON FOOT ATTACKING VICTIM" (Page 4). But one minute later, they transmitted the message, "SHOT THE TIGER AT THE CAFÉ VICT BEING ATTENDED TO." Tatiana was dead. Radio reports that up to four additional tigers were roaming zoo grounds (Page 5) proved false.


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