Ferry Capsizes on Lake Kariba, Leaving 15 Dead and 27 Missing
An overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people and leaving 27 others missing, according to the country’s Civil Protection Unit. Rescue teams recovered 77 survivors, who were taken to an island on the lake as search operations continued.
Officials said ticket records confirmed that 114 adult passengers had boarded the vessel. The total number of people aboard may have been higher because children below ticketing age were not included in those records. Five crew members were also on board. The ferry had an official carrying capacity of 90 people.
The vessel, identified as the Mbuya Nehanda, served as a transportation link between rural communities around Lake Kariba and the town of Kariba. Local member of Parliament Mutsa Murombedzi shared video that she said showed the ferry departing before the accident. People on shore could be seen waving, while some reportedly raised concerns about whether the aging boat could withstand strong waves during the journey, which typically took about five hours.
Zimbabwean police and emergency agencies launched a rescue operation after the capsizing. State broadcaster ZBC published footage showing speedboats heading toward an overturned vessel while a helicopter hovered above the area. Authorities had not released additional details about the cause of the accident.
Lake Kariba lies along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, with the international boundary running through its centre. The lake was created by construction of the Kariba Dam across the Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is more than 200 kilometres long, reaches widths of up to 40 kilometres, and is considered the world’s largest human-made lake by volume.
The scale of the casualty count remained uncertain because the passenger records did not include children, and rescue efforts were continuing after the accident on the lake.