The bodies of 19 more victims of the Lake Kariba ferry disaster have been recovered near King’s Camp, bringing the death toll to 65 and leaving 11 people still missing.
The bodies were found in the Long Island area, close to King’s Camp, where rescue teams have been searching the waters and surrounding islands since the RIDA Mbuya Nehanda ferry overturned. A boat was transporting the bodies from Long Island to Andorra Harbour, where they would be taken for identification and official processing.
The discovery is the biggest development in the search since the ferry capsized. It has moved the recovery operation beyond the immediate wreck site and into the wider waters around Long Island, showing that victims had been carried away from the place where the ferry went down.
The 19 bodies were recovered as divers, police officers, army personnel and Civil Protection Unit teams continued searching the lake. Rescue boats have been moving between the overturned ferry, nearby islands and sections of the shoreline where bodies may have been carried by the water.
The latest victims were not all found at the same point inside the ferry. The search has included the water around the wreck and areas near the islands, where currents and wind can move bodies over long distances. King’s Camp is in the wider Long Island area, making it an important location in the continuing recovery operation.
Once the bodies reached Andorra Harbour, officials began the difficult process of recording, identifying and notifying relatives. The task is expected to take time because the ferry carried adults, crew members, infants and other children, while the passenger records did not immediately provide a complete list of everyone on board.
The recovery of the 19 bodies has raised the confirmed death toll from 46 to 65. Seventy-seven people survived the accident and were rescued. Using the passenger total counted by surviving security officer Anymore Chambati, the figures now show that 11 people remain missing.
The calculation is straightforward. Seventy-seven survivors and 65 dead account for 142 people. Chambati counted 153 people on board, leaving 11 people whose whereabouts have not yet been established.
Chambati was responsible for ticketing and said he counted 153 people before the ferry left Kariba. His count included crew members and infants. The figure has become central to the search because the official ticket records covered at least 114 adults and five crew members but did not settle the number of children below ticketing age.
The ferry had a stated capacity of 90 people. The official passenger figure already exceeded that limit, and Chambati’s count points to an even greater level of overcrowding. The large number of people on board has made it difficult for rescue teams to match the names of passengers with survivors and recovered bodies.
The RIDA Mbuya Nehanda ferry capsized on Tuesday while travelling from Kariba towards Chalala. It was near Long Island when strong waves struck the vessel. Heavy winds pushed water across the ferry, and the situation worsened as water entered the engine room.
Chambati described the final moments before the ferry overturned. “Before it went down, passengers were screaming at us that the boat was flooding, water was pouring into the engine room and goods were spilling out.”
He also said: “Some of us survived by standing on top of the capsized hull.”
Passengers had called for the vessel to turn back as the waves grew stronger. The ferry continued moving before water began rushing inside. Travellers then tried to reach life jackets stored beneath their seats while the vessel flooded.
The captain was among those who died. Other passengers were thrown into the lake when the ferry rolled over, while some were trapped inside the vessel or beneath the overturned hull.
Witness Maxton Kanhema described the response after the accident. “When we were in the waters, then you could see a distress sign and then boats that were close by responded,” he said.
Kanhema added: “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: “However, due to the bad weather, the responses were a bit late. Getting to the boat took time, and unfortunately lives were lost.”
The rescue operation brought together the Zimbabwe Republic Police Sub-Aqua Unit, the Zimbabwe National Army Boat Squadron, the Civil Protection Unit and other emergency teams. A helicopter from Matusadona National Park also helped teams search from the air.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Muchechesi, Commander of the Boat Regiment, says that the total number of bodies that have been retrieved today is now 22.
The first survivors were taken to Long Island before Civil Protection Unit boats transported them to the mainland. Long Island then became an important base for the search because it sits close to the accident area and provides a point from which rescue teams can reach the wreck and surrounding waters.
The discovery of the 19 bodies near King’s Camp has now made that wider search area even more important. Search boats have been checking the waters around Long Island and nearby islands, while divers have been examining the ferry and the lakebed. Teams have also been monitoring the shoreline for bodies carried by wind and currents.
The journey from Long Island to Andorra Harbour is part of the official recovery process. The bodies are moved from the search area to the harbour so that they can be recorded and identified in one location. Relatives are expected to be notified after the identification process is completed.
The recovery operation has been made more difficult by the size of Lake Kariba. The lake stretches for about 200 km along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and reaches roughly 40 km across in some places. Strong winds can create dangerous waves, while currents can move people and wreckage away from the original accident site.
The lake supports communities, fishing, tourism and passenger transport. Boats are used to connect areas that are separated by the water, making ferry safety an important issue for people who depend on the route for travel and trade.
Police investigations are focusing on the condition of the ferry, the number of people on board, the weather at the time of departure and the decision to continue sailing after passengers raised concerns. The vessel’s 90-person capacity will also be examined as officials reconstruct how more than 100 people came to be on the boat.
Previous accidents on Lake Kariba have also caused deaths. Five people drowned on the Zimbabwean side of the lake in 2021, while three people were feared dead after a capsizing in October 2023. A police boat accident was reported shortly before the latest ferry disaster.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the ferry disaster a state of disaster, allowing the government to mobilise more boats, divers, rescue personnel and other equipment.
For the families of the victims, the recovery of the 19 bodies brings both painful confirmation and the possibility of answers. Families who had been waiting without knowing whether their relatives were alive or dead can now begin the identification process. At the same time, the discovery has confirmed that the search must continue for the remaining 11 people.
The current figures are 65 dead, 77 rescued and 11 missing. Those figures are based on Chambati’s count of 153 people on board. Officials are continuing to reconcile passenger records with the survivors and bodies recovered from the lake.
The search teams will continue working around King’s Camp, Long Island, the ferry wreck and nearby shorelines until the missing passengers are found or the recovery operation is completed. The bodies already taken to Andorra Harbour will be identified, and the investigation will examine how the ferry was loaded, why it sailed in dangerous conditions and whether the disaster could have been prevented.
The discovery of the 19 bodies has turned the Lake Kariba operation into a large-scale recovery mission. The death toll has reached 65, the search area has widened beyond the wreck and 11 families are still waiting for news of their loved ones.