At least 15 people were killed and 27 remain missing after an overloaded ferry overturned on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, the Civil Protection Unit said. Al Jazeera reported the incident.
The ferry overturned in strong waves on Tuesday (August 11), and at least 77 people were rescued alive.
It carried passengers between Kariba town and islands and fishing camps. Its capacity was 90, but officials said the vessel was overloaded. Ticket records listed 114 adult passengers and 5 crew members; the number of children below the ticketing age was unknown.
Zimbabwe’s national police said rescue operations were continuing. ZBC footage showed speedboats approaching the overturned ferry and a helicopter overhead; underwater search teams were also deployed.
Witness Maxton Kanhema told AFP the ferry departed in bad weather and a large wave may have stopped its engine. A helicopter from Matusadona National Park, boats, divers and soldiers joined the rescue.
Lake Kariba lies on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border, more than 300 kilometres northeast of Harare. It is one of the world’s largest artificial lakes, created by damming the Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s; it is more than 200 kilometres long and about 40 kilometres wide in places.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report