92 confirmed dead in Zimbabwe ferry disaster, say police
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwean authorities recovered eight more bodies from Lake Kariba on Monday, bringing the death toll from last week’s ferry disaster to 92, police said.
The passenger ferry, a vital transport link for rural communities, capsized on Tuesday in rough waters on the vast lake bordering Zambia.
Police said by 15h00 (1300 GMT), “the Kariba Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA) boat accident death toll is now 92 after eight bodies were recovered from Lake Kariba”.
Officials previously said the vessel was licensed to carry 90 people but had 114 adult passengers, five crew members and an unspecified number of children when it overturned.
The toll rose at the weekend, with rescuers recovering 25 bodies on Saturday, pushing the number of confirmed deaths to 72, before it climbed to 84 on Sunday.
Since Tuesday, police have deployed “two big boats, two small boats, over 40 police Sub-Aqua members and other resources” to coordinate rescue efforts and the recovery of bodies, they said in a statement.
Police involved in the operation said they expect all bodies to eventually surface, although the number of people still missing remains unclear.
Authorities have not said how many children were among the victims. Many of those on board were believed to be villagers and fish traders.
A survivor told AFP on Thursday that passengers had told the captain of their alarm in the rough conditions and the vessel being overloaded, but their concerns were ignored.
“I have been using the same ferry for more than five years, but this time it was different. There were so many drums of diesel, groceries and other luggage on board,” said Itayi Marumisa from Mola village.
“The life jackets were buried under the luggage, and not more than 30 people managed to get them,” said the trader in her 40s.
The ferry was a vital link for rural communities living around the lake to the town of Kariba, nearly 280 kilometres (175 miles) northwest of the capital Harare.
Lake Kariba straddles the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and is the world’s largest man-made lake by volume.
