Iraqi civilians drown fleeing Falluja city with virtually surrounded

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A boat carrying civilians fleeing Fallujah by a river sank on Saturday, killing at least four people, the moment forces for Baghdad said they had the Iraqi city almost completely surrounded.

Two children, their mother and a man drowned while crossing the Euphrates, one of the few escape routes left for civilians trying to leave the city under siege by the Islamic State. Nine other people who believed they were on the ship remained missing, said the policy.

"I saw with my own eyes my family disappear under water," said Abu Tabarak, who saw the river side of the side dominated by the Islamic State the boat sink with his wife and daughter on board frill.

"There was no call on the boat for me, so I waited with my second daughter the next," he said by phone from the hospital where the bodies were taken.

About 50,000 civilians living in Falluja, 50 km from Baghdad, with limited access to water, food and health care, according to estimates of the United Nations.

Iraqi forces, with the help of Shiite militias and air support from the US-led coalition launched an offensive on May 23 to retake the Sunni city, the first to fall into the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq in January 2014.

A leader of the Shiite coalition backed by Iran participating in the offensive said the only side of Falluja continues to be secured by the pro-Baghdad forces are in the west bank of the Euphrates River.

"We are now at the gates of Falluja" said Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the Popular Mobilization Force, in an interview with televised press.

(Ahmed Rasheed Reporting)