At least 15 dead and 27 missing after overloaded ferry capsizes on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe

At least 15 people have been killed and 27 remain missing after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, according to the country’s Civil Protection Unit.

The boat overturned on Tuesday after hitting strong waves, the agency said in a statement, adding that at least 77 people were rescued.

The boat provides transport between the northern town of Kariba and several islands and fishing camps and was carrying more than its capacity of 90 people when it capsized, the agency said.

While exact numbers of passengers and crew are yet to be announced, the agency said it could only confirm through registered ticket sales that there were 114 adult passengers on board, along with five crew members.

There could have been an unknown number of children below ticketing age who were on board and not accounted for, the agency added.

Zimbabwe’s national police service said rescue efforts were under way.

The state broadcaster ZBC published video of speedboats making their way to what appeared to be an overturned boat on the lake as a helicopter hovered overhead. An underwater team for search and rescue operations was deployed on the huge lake, it said.

Witness Maxton Kanhema told the AFP news agency that the vessel departed in bad weather, and that a wave may have hit the boat, causing its engines to switch off.

“When we were in the waters, then you could see a distress sign and then boats that were close by responded,” said Maxton Kanhema.

He said the Matusadona National Park provided a helicopter to help in the rescue effort alongside bigger boats and divers from the local area and the army.

“People were in distress… There were bodies in the water and it was a sad situation to witness. Those that could be rescued were rescued,” he added.

“However, due to the bad weather, the responses were a bit late,” he said. “Getting to the boat took time and unfortunately lives were lost.”

Lake Kariba lies on Zimbabwe’s border with Zambia, more than 300km (186 miles) northeast of the capital Harare. It is the world’s largest man-made lake by volume and was created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by building a dam wall to block the Zambezi River, resulting in a valley slowly filling with water to form a huge lake that is now more than 200km (124 miles) long and up to 40km (25 miles) wide in places.