HARARE – The death toll from the August 11 Lake Kariba boat disaster rose to 84 on Sunday after 12 more bodies were recovered, confirming that the vessel was carrying at least 161 people when it sank in rough waters – far exceeding its reported capacity of 90 passengers.
Authorities say 77 people survived.
“We confirm that search efforts are still underway in a bid to recover victims identified as missing,” national police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi said, raising the possibility that the death toll could rise further.
The disaster has intensified scrutiny of safety procedures on the vessel, with the exact number of people onboard still unknown.
The Civil Protection Unit said it could only verify, through registered ticket sales, that 114 adults and five crew members were on the government-owned ferry. It said an unknown number of children below the ticketing age were also onboard and were not captured in official records.
One survivor, who was among the five crew members, said he counted 153 people on the vessel. That figure has now been overtaken by events, with additional victims still unaccounted for.
The aging ferry was traveling from Kariba to rural and fishing communities in the country’s northwest, where roads are damaged and public transportation is scarce.
Kariba is the world’s largest human-made lake by volume, created by damming the mighty Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It stretches more than 200 kilometers and is up to 40 kilometers wide in places.
Zimbabwe and Zambia share the lake, with their border running through its middle.
