PM declares three-day mourning period in Iraq after Mosul capsizing kills nearly 100

The Prime Minister of Iraq on Thursday declared three days of mourning after a ferry boat sank in Mosul, killing about a hundred people.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Prime Minister of Iraq on Thursday declared three days of mourning after a ferry boat sank in Mosul, killing about a hundred people.

On Thursday, a ferry capsized in the Tigris River in Mosul on the first day of Newroz.

The ferry was loaded three times over its capacity. “It can normally carry 50 people. There were 250 on board at the time of the incident,” the Civil Defense team said.

The boat sank as it was transferring people to a man-made tourist destination island resort on the Tigris River.

The latest data from Mosul authorities indicate that over 95 people had died, 55 were rescued, and dozens more remain missing.

Following the incident, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi arrived in Mosul and ordered an investigation into the incident, with at least nine workers operating the ferry arrested. He called on the investigative team to bring those “responsible for the tragedy to justice.”

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said it sent dozens of ambulances and aid teams from the provinces of Duhok and Erbil to help those in Mosul.

In a statement following the incident, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani expressed the KRG’s readiness “to provide assistance and support to the victims.”

“We have been following the situation and developments closely since it first happened,” he said in the statement.

Barzani noted the KRG had “directed all relevant agencies” to Mosul and is fully prepared to provide the necessary support to its hospitals to receive the victims.

Masoud Barzani, the President of the leading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the former President of the Kurdistan Region, also sent his condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives. He wished those who survived a speedy recovery.

Editing by Nadia Riva