The Iraqi parliament held a session to consider a request from Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi to sack Nainawa governor Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan and two deputies.

The parliament voted overwhelmingly to sack the governor and his two deputies.

The parliament also voted to recognize those who died in a ferry capsize in Mosul as martyrs.

Abdul Mahdi has formally requested that the parliament sack the Nainawa governor after a river ferry accident that killed at least 100 people in the provincial capital, Mosul.

The capsize of the boat, which was carrying families to a recreational spot on an island in the Tigris River on Thursday, was the most deadly incident in the northern city since it was recaptured from Islamic State in a bloody and destructive conflict in 2017.

Iraqi law gives the federal parliament the right to sack provincial governors based on the suggestion of the prime minister.

Scores of angry protesters confronted Iraq’s president and the governor on Friday, forcing them to leave the site of the accident. The crowd threw stones and shoes at al-Sultan’s car, which sped off hitting two people, one of whom was taken to hospital.

Protesters blamed negligence by the local government for the accident. The boat was loaded to five times its capacity, according to a local official.

Abdul Mahdi had said on Thursday those responsible would be held accountable. Five ferry workers were arrested.

Reporter’s code:50101