Authorities retrieved 22 bodies from Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba on Saturday to take the death count from last week’s ferry overturning to 68, as the search continued for remaining victims, the police said.
The overloaded government-run passenger ferry overturned in choppy waters on Tuesday in a rare accident on the vast lake on the border with Zambia. A survivor told AFP reporters on Thursday how he watched helplessly as people tried to save themselves as the boat went down, with his best friend and seven of his relatives among the dead. It is believed to be the country’s deadliest such disaster. The police gave no details of the new victims, but most of the passengers on the vessel were villagers and fish traders who lived around the lake.
Officials say the boat was authorised to carry 90 people but was packed with 114 adults, five crew members and an unspecified number of children.
The death count “is now 68 following the recovery of 22 bodies” on Saturday, a police statement said.
