Zimbabwe Ferry Disaster Toll Passes 90 in Deadliest Sinking
The death toll from a ferry that capsized on Lake Kariba has risen above 90, making it the deadliest such disaster in Zimbabwe’s history, officials said. The vessel, which was overloaded and running on a single engine in worsening weather, sank while crossing the lake, with children among the dead. Requests to turn back had reportedly been refused before it went down.
The tragedy follows a grimly familiar pattern in which overloaded, poorly maintained vessels are pushed on in bad conditions, and the human cost falls on ordinary passengers with no say in the decision. That the ferry was carrying well beyond its licensed capacity, on one engine, and pressed ahead despite calls to return points to a failure of both operator judgement and safety enforcement. Lake Kariba, one of the world’s largest man-made reservoirs, is a vital transport link where regulation is thin. The scale of the loss, with many children among the dead, has prompted national mourning. Watch whether the disaster forces a reckoning over ferry safety and who is held to account.