Lake Kariba Ferry Disaster: Death Toll Rises to 44 After Overloaded Vessel Capsizes in Zimbabwe
The death toll has risen to 44 a day after an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, police said Wednesday. Police said on X that the bodies had been retrieved from the lake that forms part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP): The death toll has risen to 44 a day after an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, police said Wednesday. Police said on X that the bodies had been retrieved from the lake that forms part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. But police did not update how many people were injured or missing after Tuesday's disaster involving a ferry operated by a government agency.
The ferry capsized while carrying at least 114 adult passengers and five crew members, according to Zimbabwe's disaster management agency. The agency said Tuesday that 77 people had been rescued. It was not clear how many people were on the ferry because the figures only included those who bought tickets, and children below ticketing age could have been on board. State broadcaster ZBC reported that children were among the dead, though authorities didn't immediately give those details. New York Boat Capsize Video: Woman, 5-Month-Old Baby Dead After Motorboat Capsizes Near Liberty Island; 12 Rescued.
The ferry had a carrying capacity of 90 people, according to authorities. It is used to take people from rural communities around the lake to the town of Kariba on the shore. Mutsa Murombedzi, a local member of Parliament, posted a video Tuesday of what she said were people on shore waving at the ferry when it started its journey. Some of the people were expressing concern whether the aging ferry could handle strong waves, according to the video. Jabalpur Boat Tragedy: 4 Dead, 18 Missing After Storm Capsizes Tourist Boat in Bargi Dam Reservoir (Watch Videos).
Kariba is the largest man-made lake in the world by volume and was created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by building a dam on the Zambezi River. The huge lake is now more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) long and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide in places. The official border between Zimbabwe and Zambia is in the middle of it.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2026 05:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
