Mosul ferry disaster: At least 40 passengers 'celebrating Kurdish New Year' dead
Last Update: 2019-03-21 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News
At least 55 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.
Reports close to 3pm said 55 people had been pulled from the water.
CNN reported 33 women, 12 children, and 10 men had died in the capsize, citing Ministry of Health spokesman Saif al-Badr.
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Boats are seen among the people struggling in the water (Image: Twitter)
The passengers were believed to have been on the ferry celebrating the Kurdish New Year, according to Al Jazeera.
Footage posted on social media shows the ferry upside down, floating down the river with people clinging to its sides.
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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 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.
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A woman watches in horror from the riverbanks as people are swept downriver (Image: Twitter)
It was this year marked by Kurds as well as hundreds of millions around the world today, Thursday March 21.
We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
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Many of the people spilled overboard could not swim, officials say (Image: Twitter)
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The aftermath of the ferry sinking on the shores of the River Tigris (Image: alhurra news)
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