Zimbabwe ferry disaster: Death toll rises to 44 as rescuers search Lake Kariba

Abi Sarabia M., Philippine Canadian Inquirer
August 13, 2026

Photo courtesy: RTVisual X Account

HARARE, Zimbabwe — At least 44 people have died after an overcrowded passenger ferry capsized and sank on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, authorities said, as search and rescue teams continued combing the lake for missing passengers.

Seventy-seven people have been pulled from the water and brought to safety, according to Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection Unit (CPU), though the search for additional survivors was ongoing.

The vessel, which ran between the town of Kariba and surrounding islands and fishing villages, served as a key transport link for rural residents and traders travelling to the Kariba commercial hub.

The CPU said the ferry had a rated capacity of 90 people but was carrying 114 adult passengers and five crew members when it went down, along with an unspecified number of children.

A survivor told Zimbabwe’s ZBC broadcaster that passengers had pleaded with the ferry’s driver to turn back because of choppy conditions, but he refused. The woman, who was not named, said the boat may have also been taking on water, and that the driver dismissed the passengers’ concerns when they asked him to radio the captain. 

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the sinking a national disaster and ordered an immediate response to what he described as serious gaps in the country’s maritime safety capabilities, saying the incident could not be allowed to turn the country’s recreational waters into death traps for ordinary citizens.

A specialised aquatic rescue unit was airlifted to the site to assist in locating remaining victims, and two funeral parlours have been engaged to recover and process bodies, the CPU said.

Lake Kariba is the largest artificial lake in the world by volume, formed by a dam on the Zambezi River that straddles the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Search and rescue operations remain underway, and authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of children who were aboard the ferry at the time it sank.