At least 44 people have died after an severely overcrowded passenger ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, according to updated statements from national police authorities.
The vessel, which had a maximum rated capacity of 90 individuals, was carrying at least 114 adult passengers, five crew members, and an unrecorded number of children under ticketing age when it encountered severe waves.
A surviving crew member reported that up to 153 passengers may have been aboard when the boat began taking on water roughly 30 minutes after departing the port town of Kariba.
Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection Unit deployed a specialized aquatic rescue team and helicopters to locate dozens of individuals who remain unaccounted for. While initial emergency reports placed the confirmed death toll at 15, police retrieved additional bodies from the water throughout Wednesday afternoon, raising the official fatality count significantly.
Lake Kariba, the world’s largest man-made lake by volume, serves as a crucial transit route for rural communities traveling between mainland settlements, fishing camps, and islands. Local officials and disaster management agencies have recommended that the incident be formally declared a national disaster as search and recovery operations continue.
