Death toll in Zimbabwe ferry capsizing rises to 72
Authorities have retrieved 25 bodies from Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba to take the death toll from Tuesday's ferry capsizing to 72, police said, as the search continued for victims.
The death toll in Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba ferry accident has risen to 72, authorities in the country reported on Saturday. The overloaded passenger ferry, operated by the government's Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA), capsized in choppy waters, marking the deadliest disaster of its kind in the nation's history. Initially, the toll was reported at 68 after the recovery of 22 more bodies, but three more victims were identified late on the 15th of August, bringing the total to 72.
Most of the passengers on board were villagers and fish traders who lived around the lake. The boat, authorized to carry 90 people, was packed with 114 adults, five crew members, and an unspecified number of children. Civil protection officials stated that 77 people had been rescued so far.
Hundreds of people gathered at the district hospital in Kariba's lakeside town to identify their loved ones, while survivors expressed their frustration and grief at a memorial service held in the town. One survivor recounted how he and a friend managed to escape as the sinking vessel was pushed by a wave, while many others struggled to find life jackets or use them correctly. Lake Kariba, which straddles the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, is the world's largest man-made lake by volume.
Written by urgent.news from RTE News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
