Over 44 Drown After Ferry Overturns on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba

Search and rescue operations continued Wednesday after a government passenger ferry capsized on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba, claiming at least 44 lives, authorities said. 

A witness told AFP that after the ferry sank in rough weather on Tuesday bodies could be seen in the water as rescuers tried to reach the vessel, which was entirely overturned. Passengers had pleaded with the driver to turn back in the rough waters, local media quoted a survivor as saying.

The civil



protection unit (CPU) said overnight that 77 people had been rescued and 15 bodies retrieved from the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA) ferry. 

The Zimbabwe Republic Police updated the toll later Wednesday, saying on X: "The ZRP informs the public that the death toll in the Kariba RIDA boat accident is now 44." It is one of the worst recorded passenger boat disasters on the lake, which is on the border with Zambia and more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the capital, Harare.