Ferry sinks in Iraq

This item appears on page 18 of the May 2019 issue.

A ferry rated to carry 100 passengers but carrying at least 200 sank in swift waters in the Tigris River in Mosul, Iraq, on March 21, killing more than 80 people. The ship, most of whose passengers were Kurds celebrating Nowruz, or New Year, was heading to Umm Rabaen, a river island popular with tourists, north of the city center.

Before the incident, officials had warned boat operators that the level of the Tigris was unusually high, as the gates at Mosul Dam had been opened.