The ferry capsized on Tuesday on Lake Kariba, on the border with Zambia; an investigation has suggested it was overloaded when it turned over during heavy winds.

Overloaded Vessel and High Casualty Numbers

Eighteen children were among the people killed, Zimbabwe’s police said, in what is believed to be the country’s deadliest such disaster; most of the passengers are believed to be villagers and fish traders who lived around the lake.

Officials said the vessel was authorised to carry 90 people but was packed with 114 adults, five crew members and an unspecified number of children, though Lt Col Joseph Muchechesi, commander of the boat regiment involved in the search operation, said: “So far today we have managed to take 22 bodies. We are confident that we will manage to retrieve all the bodies.”

Rescue and Memorial Efforts

The civil protection unit said on Wednesday that 77 people had been rescued. Hundreds of people gathered at the district hospital in the lakeside town of Kariba to identify the bodies of their relatives and loved ones. A public memorial service was held in Kariba, nearly 280km (175 miles) north-west of the capital Harare, on Thursday before the burials started.

Survivors said they pleaded with the ferry driver to turn back as the vessel had begun taking on water soon after departing. Chance Siyamavhu, 45, told Agence France-Presse: “Thank God that a wave pushed the sinking vessel and we managed to climb on top. When the boat capsized, most of the people scrambled to get the lifejackets but most of them did not even know how to use them. Most people could not make it.”

Historical Context and Lake Kariba

Lake Kariba is the world’s largest manmade lake by volume. It stretches more than 200km (124 miles) and is up to 40km (25 miles) wide in places. It was created in the 1950s during British colonial rule, when the Zambezi River was dammed, displacing about 57,000 people.

In 2014, 26 people, 24 of them children, drowned in Zambia’s part of the lake when the boat meant to transport them to independence day celebrations capsized. On the Zimbabwean side, five passengers drowned in a 2021 incident.