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Middle East

Iraqi president in Mosul after sinking of ferry killed 94

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    This image taken from video provided by Mohammed Issam shows boats trying to rescue people in the Tigris River after a overloaded ferry sank on Thursday, March 21, 2019 near Mosul, Iraq. Col. Hussam Khalil, head of the Civil Defense in the northern Nineveh province, told The Associated Press the accident occurred as scores of people were out in a tourist area celebrating Nowruz, which marks the Kurdish new year and the arrival of spring. (Mohammed Issam via AP)

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    People and relatives of victims waiting on the bank of the Tigris river where the ferry sank in Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, March 21, 2019. A ferry overloaded with people celebrating the Kurdish new year sank in the Tigris River near the Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday, killing dozens of people, mostly women and children, officials said. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)

BAGHDAD – Iraq's president has rushed to the northern city of Mosul and is holding meetings with security officials there over the sinking of a ferry in the Tigris River that killed 94 people.

President Barham Saleh's visit came as search teams were trying to find more bodies after the ferry, overloaded with holidaymakers celebrating both Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and also Mother's Day, capsized near the city with dozens on board, including families with children.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered an investigation and briefly visited Mosul, where he declared three days of national mourning.

Iraqi judicial authorities ordered the arrest of nine workers operating the ferry. The men were detained and an arrest warrant is out for the owner of the tourist island where it was headed.