An overcrowded ferry overturned on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least 15 individuals, while 27 others remain missing, as per the national disaster management agency. The agency reported that 77 individuals were rescued and transported to an island on the lake.
According to the Zimbabwe Civil Protection Unit, ticket sales confirmed the presence of 114 adult passengers on board, although there may have been undisclosed children below the ticketing age who were not included in the count. Additionally, the ferry had five crew members on board, exceeding its carrying capacity of 90 people.
Mutsa Murombedzi, a local Member of Parliament, shared a video showing people on the shore signaling the departure of the ferry at the beginning of its voyage. The ferry served as a vital mode of transportation for rural communities traveling from rural Kariba to the town of Kariba along the lake. Concerns were raised by onlookers about the ferry’s ability to withstand the lake’s strong waves.
Zimbabwean authorities initiated a rescue operation following the incident, with the police and ZBC, the state broadcaster, deploying speedboats and a helicopter to the scene of the overturned vessel on Lake Kariba. Lake Kariba, situated on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, is the largest man-made lake globally by volume, created in the late 1950s and early 1960s through the construction of a dam wall on the Zambezi River.
The lake spans over 200 kilometers in length and up to 40 kilometers in width at certain points, shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia, with the official border running through the lake’s center.