HARARE — At least 44 people have died after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba, police said, as search-and-rescue teams continued efforts to recover bodies and locate survivors.
The ferry overturned on Tuesday after encountering large waves while travelling from the lakeside town of Kariba toward islands and fishing camps, according to reports citing Zimbabwean authorities and survivors. Police raised the confirmed death toll from 15 to 38 and then to 44 on Wednesday as bodies were recovered from the lake.
The vessel's passenger capacity was 90, but Zimbabwe's Civil Protection Unit said ticket records showed 114 adult passengers and five crew members aboard. The number of children on board remained unclear because some may not have required tickets. A surviving crew member told state broadcaster ZBC that he counted 153 people aboard, including crew and infants.
Survivor accounts indicated the ferry began taking on water before it overturned. Anyway Chambati, one of two surviving crew members, told ZBC that passengers were warning crew members that water was entering the engine room and that goods were falling overboard. Some survivors remained on the upturned hull until rescue boats reached them.
Authorities deployed boats and a helicopter during the initial rescue operation, while a specialised underwater team was brought in to assist with recovery efforts. Earlier reports said 77 people had been rescued, although the precise number of people still missing remained difficult to establish because of uncertainty over the total number aboard.
The disaster has drawn attention to overcrowding and safety concerns surrounding transport on Lake Kariba, a major waterway shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia. The lake is the world's largest man-made reservoir by volume and supports fishing, transport and hydroelectric power generation.
Lake Kariba has experienced previous fatal boating accidents. In 2014, 26 people, including 24 children, died when a boat capsized on the Zambian side. On the Zimbabwean side, five people died in a 2021 boat accident, while further fatalities were reported in subsequent incidents.
Search-and-rescue operations were continuing on Wednesday, with authorities expected to provide further verified information on the identities of those killed, the number of missing people and the circumstances surrounding the capsizing.
