Zimbabwe police said 23 more bodies were recovered from the ferry that capsized on Lake Kariba on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 69.
According to police investigations, the ferry was overloaded when it overturned on Lake Kariba. The vessel departed from the port of Kariba town with about 153 people on board, while the maximum permitted capacity was only 90 passengers.
Among the victims are at least 18 children, including 16 under the age of 10, according to state broadcaster ZBC. The youngest victims identified include one-year-old Wendy Ndandarika, and 14-month-old McDonald Nyasha Gumpo and Hailly Tauro, according to local media.
The ship's captain, 59-year-old Sign Patsikadova, is also among the confirmed dead.
Search and rescue operations involving police divers, the military, and local fishermen continued on Saturday, authorities said.
Disaster management officials said 77 people were rescued alive immediately after the ferry capsized. Many were taken to a nearby island before being transferred to medical facilities in Kariba town.
Survivors told reporters that strong winds created large waves that caused water to flood the ferry shortly after it departed. Passengers asked the operator to return to shore, but the vessel continued to open water before capsizing.
Some families lost more than one relative. The government has declared a national disaster and deployed welfare agencies to distribute food to affected households.
“It is hard to know who to console first, because almost every home has lost a relative, with the worst cases losing more than five people at once,” Solomon Machipisa told The Herald.
The ferry was a lifeline for remote fishing communities along the lake, connecting them to food supplies, markets, and essential services. The loss has already begun to impact food transport, with shops that relied on the ferry facing shortages, residents told The Herald.
Accidents on Lake Kariba – the world's largest man-made lake by volume – are relatively rare, making this ferry sinking one of the country's most severe maritime disasters in decades. Lake Kariba lies on Zimbabwe's border with Zambia, more than 300 kilometers northeast of the capital Harare.
