london aardvark kill four meerkats miss believe dead blaze tear part london zoo early saturday destroy cafe gift shop fire break shortly 0600 gmt zoo animal adventure section spread shop cafe near area visitors handle fee animals zoo london fire brigade say 70 firefighters take three hours bring fire control desperate keepers live site regent park central london move animals safety staff need treatment smoke inhalation shock ten-year-old misha aardvark one zoo best-loved animals perish fire four meerkats unaccounted also presume die take name afrikaans word earth-pig aardvarks large burrow mammals find across much africa absolutely devastate misha aardvark kill still try find happen meerkats moment site fire take place close dominic jermey zoo director general tell bbc tv moment certain happen meerkats optimistic stage unfortunately animals nearby monitor vet zoo say indications unaffected say hop reopen sunday world old scientific zoo date 1826 house 20,166 animals accord inventory 2017. fire brigade say send 10 fire engines 72 firefighters scene add cause blaze investigation fire mainly involve cafe shop part nearby animal pet area also affect say station manager david george arrive crew face well develop fire work incredibly hard arduous condition bring control quickly possible stop spread neighbor animal enclosures aardvark die blaze london zoo meerkats miss