UPDATE: At least 54 dead, mostly women and children, as ferry sinks in Tigris River near Iraq's Mosul

At least 54 people died when an overcrowded ferry carrying families sank on Thursday in a swollen river in northern Iraq during Kurdish New Year celebrations.

Citing police and medical sources, Reuters news agency reported that most of the casualties on the ferry were women and children who could not swim.

Another 28 people were missing after the disaster on the Tigris in the city of Mosul, according to an interior ministry official who did not want to be named.

The vessel is believed to be carrying around 200 people when it capsized.

Colonel Hussam Khalil, head of the Civil Defense in the Nineveh province, told The Associated Press that the accident occurred on Thursday as scores of people were out in the tourist area celebrating Nowruz, which marks the Kurdish new year and the arrival of spring.

Khalil says many of the dead were women and children, adding that search operations are still underway.

Authorities had warned people to be careful after several days of heavy rains led to water being released through the Mosul dam, causing the river level to rise.

With agencies