Zimbabwe’s Civil Safety Unit says the ferry was carrying greater than its capability of 90 individuals when it capsized.
Revealed On 12 Aug 2026
A minimum of 15 individuals have been killed and 27 stay lacking after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, in response to the nation’s Civil Safety Unit.
The boat overturned on Tuesday after hitting robust waves, the company stated in a press release, including that no less than 77 individuals have been rescued.
The boat offers transport between the northern city of Kariba and a number of other islands and fishing camps and was carrying greater than its capability of 90 individuals when it capsized, the company stated.
Whereas actual numbers of passengers and crew are but to be introduced, the company stated it may solely verify by means of registered ticket gross sales that there have been 114 grownup passengers on board, together with 5 crew members.
There may have been an unknown variety of kids under ticketing age who have been on board and never accounted for, the company added.
Zimbabwe’s nationwide police service stated rescue efforts have been below approach.
The state broadcaster ZBC revealed video of speedboats making their solution to what seemed to be an overturned boat on the lake as a helicopter hovered overhead. An underwater workforce for search and rescue operations was deployed on the large lake, it stated.
Witness Maxton Kanhema instructed the AFP information company that the vessel departed in dangerous climate, and {that a} wave could have hit the boat, inflicting its engines to change off.
“Once we have been within the waters, then you might see a misery signal after which boats that have been shut by responded,” stated Maxton Kanhema.
He stated the Matusadona Nationwide Park supplied a helicopter to assist in the rescue effort alongside greater boats and divers from the native space and the military.
“Individuals have been in misery… There have been our bodies within the water and it was a tragic state of affairs to witness. Those who may very well be rescued have been rescued,” he added.
“Nonetheless, because of the dangerous climate, the responses have been a bit late,” he stated. “Attending to the boat took time and sadly lives have been misplaced.”
Lake Kariba lies on Zimbabwe’s border with Zambia, greater than 300km (186 miles) northeast of the capital Harare. It’s the world’s largest man-made lake by quantity and was created within the late Fifties and early Nineteen Sixties by constructing a dam wall to dam the Zambezi River, leading to a valley slowly filling with water to kind an enormous lake that’s now greater than 200km (124 miles) lengthy and as much as 40km (25 miles) extensive in locations.
