40 people rescued from ferry boat sinking in central Iraq

TIKRIT, Iraq, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A ferry boat sank Tuesday in Tigris River in Iraq's Salahudin province, but all the 40 people aboard were rescued, a local official said.

Ali Dodah, mayor of the city of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, told Xinhua many people left their homes in the eastern part of the city to the western part because of floods by heavy rainfall during the past few days that threatened several areas of the eastern side.

"Overload of the ferry and the strong current of the river caused the incident," Dodah said.

Many resident of the city rushed to the ferry by their own small boats and rescued the passengers, but about eight vehicles for the civilians went into the water, he added.

During the past few days, a wave of heavy rainfalls struck northern and central Iraq. Last night alone about 30 mm of rain fell on the province, according to the Iraqi Meteorological Board.

The torrential rain during the past days across the country ended the rain shortage in the winter and eased fears about a severe drought in the coming summer.

However, the recent heavy rainfalls rose the water levels in the reservoirs, mainly in northern and central Iraq. Enditem