The tragedy that unfolded yesterday afternoon on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe is taking on an increasingly alarming scale. A ferry operated by the Rural Infrastructure Development Authority capsized near Long Island, dragging dozens of passengers into the waters of the lake. At this stage, local authorities have confirmed fifteen deaths, seventy seven people rescued, and a still uncertain number of people missing.
According to an official report from Cecilia Chitiyo, Director of Local Government within the office of the minister responsible for provincial affairs in Mashonaland West, the vessel, named Mbuya Nehanda, was dramatically overloaded at the time of the accident. The boat, whose official capacity is limited to ninety passengers, was in fact carrying nearly double that number. A count based on tickets sold indicates one hundred and fourteen adults on board, along with five crew members, not including an undetermined number of children who did not require a paid ticket. Some sources put the total number of people on the ferry at the time of the sinking at close to one hundred and sixty five.
Rescue operations carried out by the Matusadonha rescue teams, supported by other responders, have so far managed to locate seventy seven survivors, who are currently gathered on Long Island awaiting evacuation. The ferry’s captain is not among the survivors and is counted among those who died in the disaster. Children are also believed to be among those still missing, a fact that adds to the gravity of the tragedy and to the anguish felt by affected families.
Given the scale of the situation, Cecilia Chitiyo has recommended that the accident be formally declared a state of disaster, a decision that, if adopted, would allow additional national resources to be mobilized and would help coordinate support more effectively for survivors as well as for the relatives of those still unaccounted for.
Search operations remain ongoing, and local authorities have already warned that both the death toll and the number of confirmed survivors are likely to change as verification efforts continue. Zimbabwe’s national police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, has also urged the public and the media to exercise caution when circulating figures, until authorities are able to confirm with precision the exact number of people on board at the time of the tragedy, along with the number of victims, injured and survivors.
This disaster follows a string of deadly accidents recorded in recent weeks across Zimbabwe, once again highlighting the fragility of transport infrastructure in certain parts of the country and the pressing need for stricter oversight of passenger capacity, whether on the road, as seen recently along the Harare Mutare highway, or, as in this case, on the country’s waterways.
