At least 15 people have died and 27 others are missing after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba on Tuesday. The Lake Kariba ferry capsize is one of the deadliest inland water disasters the country has recorded in years.
The disaster happened near Long Island. The vessel, named Mbuya Nehanda and operated by the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency, was travelling from the resort town of Kariba to Chalala Fishing Camp. The crossing usually takes around five hours, and rural communities rely on it as their fastest route into town, Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection Unit said in a statement.
Rescue teams pulled 77 survivors from the water and ferried them to a small island on the lake, the Civil Protection Unit said. Boats have since been dispatched to bring them back to shore. Police, soldiers and an underwater search unit joined the operation. A helicopter circled the site as speedboats combed the water, footage aired by state broadcaster ZBC showed.
Confusion has surrounded the true number of people on board since the Lake Kariba ferry capsize began making headlines on Tuesday. The vessel is rated to carry 90 passengers. But the Civil Protection Unit said it could only verify, through ticket records, that 114 adult passengers and five crew members had boarded. Officials warned that an unknown number of children, who travel free, may also have been aboard and are still not accounted for.
Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of parliament for the area, said the ferry had set off despite concerns among onlookers about rough conditions on the lake. She shared video showing residents on the shore waving off the vessel. Questions needed to be asked about why the crossing went ahead at all, she said. Communities in the area depend on the boat as their only practical link to Kariba town, and the wait for news has been agonising for families with relatives still unaccounted for.
Local radio presenter Given Siakanoka, who said he had relatives travelling on the ferry, described the disaster as devastating. He said he was still waiting to learn whether his family members had survived. The Lake Kariba ferry capsize has drawn national attention as families across the region await updates on the missing passengers
Fishermen in the area told rescuers that a large wave may have struck the boat. Officials have not confirmed this as the cause of the Lake Kariba ferry capsize. The Civil Protection Unit has recommended the incident be formally declared a national disaster, a move that would unlock extra government resources for the search and for survivor support.
Lake Kariba is the largest man made lake in the world by volume. It was formed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when a dam wall was built across the Zambezi River. The lake now stretches more than 200 kilometres in length and up to 40 kilometres across in places. It forms part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, with the two countries splitting it roughly down the middle.
Boat accidents are not new to the lake. In 2021, a smaller ferry travelling from Nyaodza Fishing Camp sank in the early hours of the morning with eight people aboard. Five died after it was believed to have been overloaded. This week’s Lake Kariba ferry capsize appears to be the worst such incident on the water in recent memory. It has reignited concern over safety standards on ageing vessels still used daily by rural communities across the region.
Search and rescue efforts were continuing into Wednesday. Authorities are yet to release a final, verified toll from the Lake Kariba ferry capsize, and families in Kariba and beyond are still waiting for word on missing relatives.
