Harare, ZimbabweAP —
More than 70 people died after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba this week, police said Saturday, after rescuers recovered more bodies.
The ferry capsized in strong waves on Tuesday. Police said 26 more bodies have since been discovered, bringing the death toll to 72.
The dilapidated ferry was sailing from the town of Kariba to rural and fishing villages in the country’s northwest, where roads are damaged and public transport is lacking. Authorities have not said how many people were on board or how many are missing.
The number of passengers is estimated at 153, but authorities say the ferry has a capacity of 90. Zimbabwe’s disaster management authorities said 77 people had been rescued.
Officials initially said it was unclear how many children were on board because children under ticketing age were not included in passenger estimates. According to a police list released later, 16 of the child victims were under the age of 10, with the youngest just one year old.
Kariba is the world’s largest man-made lake by volume, created by damming the mighty Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is over 200 kilometers (124 miles) long and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide in some places.
Zimbabwe and Zambia share a lake and their border runs through the middle of the lake.
