Mosul ferry disaster: At least 40 dead after boat sinks in river
Last Update: 2019-03-21 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News
At least 40 people are dead after a ferry sank in the Tigris River, near Mosul in Iraq.
The ferry was overloaded, police and medical sources say.
The passengers were reportedly celebrating the Kurdish New Year.
Most of the casualties on the ferry were women and children who could not swim, the head of Mosul's Civil Defence Authority Husam Khalil said.
Local media are reporting more than 60 bodies had been pulled from the water by about 2pm (GMT).
There was believed to have been around 200 people aboard the ferry celebrating the Kurdish New Year, according to local reports.
Footage posted on social media shows the ferry upside down, Al Jazeera reports.
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The scene from a ferry sinking in Mosul (Image: alhurra news)
The rescue team is still retrieving survivors and has rescued 12 people so far, Mr Khalil said earlier.
Footage purportedly from the scene shows people struggling to swim in fast-moving water.
Terrified screaming can be heard as people watch helplessly from the river's banks.
Photographs of the scene show people spilling out in the muddied river close to what appears to be a theme-park.
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People can be seen in the River Tigris where an overloaded ferry sank (Image: MosulEye)
Mosul is a major city in Northern Iraq.
The war-torn area has suffered from intense conflict.
Islamic State lost its stronghold in the city of Mosul in 2017.
The Kurdish new year holiday, celebrated in Iran and around the world, is known as Newroz.
In Iran it is celebrated as the Persian New Tear and celebrates the arrival of spring.
It was this year marked by Kurds as well as hundreds of millions around the world today, Thursday March 21.
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The aftermath of the ferry sinking on the shores of the River Tigris (Image: alhurra news)
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