Mosul tourist facility owners arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan over ferry disaster

2019-03-30 00:00:00 - From: Iraq News

HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Iraqi and Kurdish authorities have arrested in Erbil the owners of the Mosul tourist facility where a ferry capsized earlier this month.

On March 21, an overloaded ferry sank in the Tigris killing more than 100 people. Designed to carry around 50 people, it was believed that more than 200 people were on board the vessel, which was not outfitted with life vests. Most of the people who perished in the incident were women and children who were unable to swim.

The Crisis Committee in Mosul announced the arrest of Obed Ibrahim Ali, the owner of the tourist island, & his son Ryan Obeid Ibrahim.

The fate of 55 people remain unknown after the ferry incident in the Tigris on the Newroz holiday on March 21.

Hassan Wasiq, the head of Mosul Forensics Department, told Rudaw on Friday that six diving teams are looking for the missing.

The sinking rocked the political establishment in Nineveh and sparked a wave of anger across Iraq, with many blaming corrupt officials for allowing the ferry to continue to operate despite the danger.

Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi issued an order to form the Crisis Committee to coordinate the central government’s response in Nineveh governorate.

Scores of protesters swarmed Iraq’s president Barham Salih and the governor on March 22, forcing them to leave the site of the accident. The crowd threw stones and shoes at Governor Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan’s car, which sped off hitting two people, one of whom was taken to hospital.

Protesters blamed negligence by the local government for the accident.

Governor Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan and two deputies were formally sacked by the Iraqi parliament last week and on Wednesday an arrest warrant was issued for al-Sultan.

Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city and its civil institutions and infrastructure are still recovering from the Islamic State (ISIS) conflict.

Iraqi forces drove the Islamic State group from Mosul in 2017 after a devastating campaign that left entire neighborhoods in ruins.

(With files from rudaw.net | nrttv.com | Reuters)