100 dead as Iraqi ferry sinks on Tigris River trip

A ferry packed with families celebrating Kurdish New Year sank in the Tigris River in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul on Thursday, leaving at least 100 dead, Agence FrancePresse reported.

It was Iraq’s worst accident in years. Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi decreed three days of national mourning as he visited the site of the tragedy. He ordered a swift investigation “to determine responsibilities”, according to AFP.

There was an outpouring of grief among residents who only this year resumed the annual festivities on the banks of the Tigris after the northern city’s recapture from the so-called Islamic State group, AFP said.

The accident took place in the afternoon when the ferryboat capsized because of high water levels while crossing from the bank of the river to a small tourist island called Um al Rabeein in northern Mosul, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Interior Ministry said on Friday that at least 100 people had died and 55 were rescued, after its spokesman Saad Maan said at least 19 children were among the dead.

According to a civil defense source, the ferryboat owned by a tourism office was originally designed to carry only 30 people.

While war and extremist attacks have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in Iraq in recent years, such accidents are relatively rare.

“It’s a disaster, no one expected that,” said a young man who had just managed to reach the shore.

“There were a lot of people on the boat, especially women and children,” he told AFP.

A man passing the scene protested: “All we wanted was to celebrate the New Year and it turned into a catastrophe.”

The authorities had warned people to be cautious after several days of heavy rains led to water being released through the Mosul dam, causing the river level to rise.

Videos shared on social media showed a fast-flowing, bloated river and dozens of people floating in the water or trying to swim around the partly submerged boat.

Hundreds of people who had flocked to the forested area for the first days of spring gathered on the river banks as the disaster unfolded.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Justice Ministry said it had ordered the arrest of nine ferry company officials and banned the owners of the vessel and the tourist site from leaving the country.