Angry relatives of the victims of a ferry crash in the Iraqi city of Mosul have prevented the Iraqi president and the governor of the Nineveh province from accessing the site of the tragedy, local media reported on Friday, citing sources
DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) Angry relatives of the victims of a ferry crash in the Iraqi city of Mosul have prevented the Iraqi president and the governor of the Nineveh province from accessing the site of the tragedy, local media reported on Friday, citing sources.A tourist ferry with dozens of people on board capsized in the Tigris River near Mosul on Thursday. According to preliminary data, the accident might have been caused by the excessive number of passengers. The second possibility could have been the increased water level in the Tigris River provoked by the opening of floodgates in the Mosul Dam. According to the latest media reports, the death toll stands at 96 people. The Iraqi Health Ministry has said that there were only 91 victims.
"Dozens of relatives of victims of the ferry crash attacked the convoy of Iraqi President Barham Salih and did not allow him to get to the site of the tragedy," a source in the presidential office said, as quoted by the INA news agency.
According to the source, Salih was urgently evacuated from the scene in another car.
Earlier on Friday, Salih arrived at the Nineveh operational headquarters, where he met with local officials.
In turn, the Baghdadtoday news portal reported, citing a source in Iraqi security agencies, that the protesters had hurled stones at the motorcade of Nineveh Governor Nofal Akoub, who was also en route to site.
"The car that was carrying the governor ran over several protesters," a source told the portal.
Another source told the portal that the relatives of the victims demanded that the prime minister, health minister and the province's governor pay them compensation, create an impartial investigative committee and find methods to combat corruption, which indirectly had caused the incident.
According to the source, local river police did not have enough personnel this many people, and the management of the company that owned the ferry ignored meteorologists' warnings about possible flooding.
