Zimbabwe Boat Mishap kills 15

Rescue operations were continuing after a boat carrying dozens of people capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, officials said.

The national disaster management agency in the southern African country said it had rescued 77 people.

The boat, carrying 90 passengers and five crew members, capsized but may have been overloaded, with other reports suggesting a higher number based on the registered ticket sales. Police said.

The vessel was overturned by a strong wave, police said. Footage shared online seems to show the hull floating in the water.

Lake Kariba, on the border with Zambia, is one of the world’s largest man-made reservoirs, supporting transportation and fishing and providing vital hydroelectric power to both countries.

Registered ticket sales showed that there were 114 adults on board, the Zimbabwe Civil Protection Unit, CPU said. It added an unknown number of children under ticketing age may also have been present.

Local MP Mutsa Murombedzi posted a video on X of what she said was the boat at the start of the journey, adding that residents had been using it to travel across the lake to Kariba town, a journey approximately five hours.
“We have very hard questions that need honest answers. “The officials have to release the right number of people who were onboard,” she wrote.

So far, 77 passengers had been rescued and 15 bodies had been recovered, the CPU said.

It said two funeral homes were collecting the bodies

Rescue teams, assisted by an underwater search unit, have taken those rescued from the water to Long Island, a small island on the lake.