26 more bodies are recovered in Zimbabwe’s ferry disaster, bringing death toll to 72

Philis Hamandise, center, is embraced through a gate by a colleague at a victim identification center after losing her 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old nephew in a ferry capsizing on Lake Kariba, in Kariba, Zimbabwe, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mkhululi Thobela)

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Eighteen children were among the nearly 70 people killed when an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe this week, police said Saturday after rescuers recovered more bodies.

The ferry capsized in strong waves Tuesday and police said 26 more bodies were recovered since then, bringing the death toll to 72.

The aging ferry was traveling from Kariba town to rural and fishing communities in the country’s northwest, where roads are damaged and public transportation is scarce. Authorities have not said how many people were aboard or how many remain missing.

Estimates have put the number of passengers as high as 153, while authorities say the ferry’s capacity is 90. Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency has said 77 people were rescued.

Authorities initially said the number of children aboard was unknown because those below ticketing age were not included in passenger estimates. A police list released later showed that 16 of the child victims were aged 10 or younger, with the youngest just 1.

Kariba is the world’s largest human-made lake by volume, created by damming the mighty Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It stretches more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) and is up to 40 kilometres (25 miles) wide in places.

Zimbabwe and Zambia share the lake, with their border running through its middle.

Farai Mutsaka, The Associated Press