HARARE – An inquest will be held to establish the sequence of events that led to the capsizing of a government-owned passenger ferry on Lake Kariba, a minister said on Tuesday, as the death toll rose to 94.
The disaster, in which 77 people survived, is now Zimbabwe’s worst public transport tragedy on record.
Local government minister Daniel Garwe placed much of the blame on the ferry’s captain, 59-year-old Sign Patsikadova, who died in the accident.
Garwe said the captain had made a series of catastrophic decisions, including allowing the vessel to sail while overloaded and ignoring warnings about rough conditions on the lake.
“The boat had a fitness certificate. The problems that occurred were as a result of negligence and human error by the captain of the boat. It had nothing to do with whether the boat was fit or unfit,” Garwe told journalists after a cabinet meeting.
“We are advised that the meteorological department advised the lake captain to advise all sailors to stop any sailing on this fateful day because there were some strong waves that were forming on the Binga side. The boat captain for this specific boat disregarded those early warnings and proceeded to load and continue with the journey.”
Garwe said the cabinet had “approved that we go ahead and put in place an inquest to start investigations into exactly what took place.”
He added: “There are a lot of things that have been said by people without authority on how this boat and many other boats in Kariba are being managed.”
Police said last week that the ferry, which was travelling from Kariba town to a remote rural community across the lake, was licenced to carry 90 passengers.
But the combined number of confirmed deaths and survivors means there were at least 171 people aboard, nearly double the vessel’s reported capacity.
Garwe said seven families reported that the bodies of their relatives are still not yet accounted for. He said based on that, they expect the death toll to reach “99 or over 100 people dead.”
On Tuesday, police released the names of 39 additional victims, bringing the number of identified bodies to 83. Authorities had previously identified 44 victims on August 14.
Among those who died was Tehillar Matembeka, of Mola Village in Siakobvu, who was just one month old.
Funerals are continuing across the district, but many families have been forced to bury their relatives in Kariba town because roads leading to some communities have become impassable.
The government has pledged to rehabilitate the roads in the aftermath of the tragedy.
