Death toll in Zimbabwe ferry disaster rises to 44: police

At least 44 people drowned after an overcrowded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba, police said Wednesday, releasing an updated toll a day after the disaster.

A witness told AFP soon after the government ferry sank in rough weather on Tuesday that bodies could be seen in the water as rescuers tried to reach the vessel.

It was carrying 114 adult passengers, five crew members and an unspecified number of children when it went down, the civil protection unit (CPU) said.

The Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA) vessel -- which ferries people between the northern town of Kariba and several islands and fishing villages -- had the capacity for 90 people, it said.

The unit said initially that 77 people were rescued and 15 bodies retrieved.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police updated the toll later Wednesday, saying on X: "The ZRP informs the public that the death toll in the Kariba RIDA boat accident is now 44."

It is one of the worst recorded passenger boat disasters on the lake, which is on the border with Zambia and more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the capital, Harare.

It is the world's largest man-made lake by volume.

Two funeral parlours were engaged to collect the bodies, the CPU said, as the search continued for any unaccounted people.

The witness, Maxton Kanhema, told AFP that the boat left in the morning in bad weather and may have been hit by a wave, 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," Kanhema, who was on a small boat which attended the scene on Tuesday afternoon, said.

A national park provided a helicopter to help in the rescue effort alongside bigger boats and divers from the local area and the army, he said.

"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 said.

A specialised aquatic rescue unit was airlifted to the area to aid in the search, the CPU said.

It said the 77 people who had been rescued were taken to Long Island in the middle of the lake.