A small ferry was carrying local residents across the Tigris to a tourist area on Umm Rabaen Island. Due to heavy rains and a water release from a dam upstream, the river was high and the current was strong, and officials had already issued a warning about hazardous conditions on the river. The ferry ran aground causing the loss of many. As a result, an Iraqi court issued an arrest warrant for the former governor of Nineveh Province after the deadly ferry accident.
Ex-governor Nawfal al-Akoub (Nawfal Hamadi) stands accused of abuse of power and wasting public funds. He was removed from office over the weekend by Iraq’s parliament on the grounds of alleged negligence and dereliction of duty, and he has since fled to Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s self-governing Kurdistan Autonomous Region.
The vessel was also overloaded to five times its rated capacity, according to the Mosul Civil Defense Authority.
The fast-flowing water overtopped the vessel’s starboard side, pushing it downwards until it capsized. The occupants who escaped the vessel were quickly swept downriver.
Up to now, at lest 94 bodies have been found; amongst them 61 are dead women and 19 and more are children.
On the day of the accident, people were celebrating the Kurdish New Year and was also Iraq’s date for Mothers’ Day, according to local media.
In light of the fatal incident, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi announced to find those responsible.
What would it have cost the investors if he had given each individual on the ferry a lifejacket? We would have saved most of the victims.
He continued that justice will be found for the lost ones. The Justice Ministry has already ordered the arrest of nine managers from the ferry company.
People of Mosul were already against Governor al-Akoub for perceived delays in reconstruction.
