The death toll has climbed to 44 following the capsizing of an overloaded ferry on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, police confirmed Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday, involving a ferry operated by a government agency.
Bodies were retrieved from the lake, which forms part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. According to Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency, the ferry was carrying at least 114 adult passengers and five crew members when it capsized. The agency reported that 77 people had been rescued.
Officials stated that the exact number of people on board may be higher than ticketed figures indicate, as children below ticketing age could have been present. State broadcaster ZBC reported that children were among the deceased, though official details were not immediately provided.
The ferry had a stated carrying capacity of 90 people and is used to transport residents from rural communities around the lake to the town of Kariba. Concerns about the ferry's seaworthiness were reportedly voiced by some passengers before its departure. A local member of Parliament shared a video showing people on shore expressing worry about the aging ferry's ability to withstand strong waves.
Lake Kariba, one of the world's largest man-made lakes by volume, was created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by damming the Zambezi River. It stretches over 200 kilometers (124 miles) in length and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide in places, with the official border between Zimbabwe and Zambia running through its center.