12 more bodies are recovered in Zimbabwe's ferry disaster, bringing death toll to 84

Philis Hamandise, centre, is embraced through a gate by a colleague at a victim identification center after losing her 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old nephew in a ferry capsizing on Lake Kariba, in Kariba, Zimbabwe, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mkhululi Thobela)

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Authorities on Sunday searched for more bodies from an over loaded ferry that capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe last week as the death toll in the disaster rose to more than 80 people.

The ferry capsized in strong waves on Tuesday. Police on Sunday said the death toll had risen to 84, from 72 the previous day as more bodies were recovered. Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency has said 77 people were rescued.

Estimates had put the number of passengers as high as 153 on a ferry authorized to carry 90 people, but the latest official figures now suggest the number of passengers could be even higher.

Police in the southern African country said “search efforts are still underway in a bid to recover victims identified as missing.”

The aging ferry was traveling from the town of Kariba to rural and fishing communities in the country’s northwest, where roads are damaged and public transportation is scarce.

Among the dead are 18 children, with the youngest just 1 year old. According to police, 16 of the victims were aged 10 or younger.

Kariba is the world’s largest human-made lake by volume, created by damming the mighty Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It stretches more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) and is up to 40 kilometres (25 miles) wide in places.

Zimbabwe and Zambia share the lake, with their border running through its middle.

Farai Mutsaka, The Associated Press