44 die as ferry capsizes in Zimbabwe

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No fewer than 44 people drowned after an overcrowded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, police said Wednesday, releasing an updated toll a day after the disaster.

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A witness told AFP soon after the government ferry sank in rough weather on Tuesday that bodies could be seen in the water as rescuers tried to reach the vessel.

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It was carrying 114 adult passengers, five crew members and an unspecified number of children when it went down, the Civil Protection Unit said.

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The Rural Infrastructure Development Agency vessel, which ferries people between the northern town of Kariba and several islands and fishing villages, had the capacity for 90 people, it said.

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The unit said initially that 77 people were rescued and 15 bodies retrieved.

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The Zimbabwe Republic Police updated the toll later Wednesday, saying on X, “The ZRP informs the public that the death toll in the Kariba RIDA boat accident is now 44.”

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It’s one of the worst recorded passenger boat disasters on the lake, which is on the border with Zambia and more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the capital, Harare.

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It is the world’s largest man-made lake by volume.

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Two funeral parlours were engaged to collect the bodies, the CPU said, as the search continued for any unaccounted people.

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The witness, Maxton Kanhema, told AFP that the boat left in the morning in bad weather and may have been hit by a wave, causing its engines to switch off.

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“When we were in the waters, then you could see a distress sign and then boats that were close by responded,” Kanhema, who was on a small boat which attended the scene on Tuesday afternoon, said.

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A national park provided a helicopter to help in the rescue effort alongside bigger boats and divers from the local area and the army, he said.

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“People were in distress… There were bodies in the water, and it was a sad situation to witness. Those that could be rescued were rescued,” he said.

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A specialised aquatic rescue unit was airlifted to the area to aid in the search, the CPU said.

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It said the 77 people who had been rescued were taken to Long Island in the middle of the lake.

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AFP

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