The death toll after a ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba this week has risen to 68 after more bodies were recovered on Saturday, the police said.

The overloaded passenger ferry run by the government’s Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA) overturned on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) in choppy waters.

The police “advises Zimbabweans and relevant stakeholders that the death toll in the Kariba RIDA boat accident is now 68 following the recovery of 22 bodies” on Saturday, they said in a short statement.

It gave no details, but most of the passengers on the vessel were villagers and fish traders who lived around the lake, which is on the border with Zambia.

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 civil protection unit said on Wednesday that 77 people were rescued.

Dozens of mourners gathered for an emotional service on Thursday in the lakeside town of Kariba, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of the capital Harare, before the bodies were buried.

Survivors said they pleaded with the ferry driver to turn back in the rough waters as the vessel had begun taking on water soon after departing.

Locals told AFP that such accidents on the lake were rare.

Lake Kariba straddles the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and is the world’s largest man-made lake by volume.

At least 15 people were killed, and 27 remain missing when an overcrowded ferry on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba capsized, authorities said on Wednesday (August 12, 2026).

The boat, which provides transport between the northern town of Kariba and several islands and fishing camps, overturned on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) after hitting strong waves.

It was carrying 114 adult passengers, five crew members and some children despite a capacity of 90 people, a statement from Zimbabwe’s civil protection unit (CPU) said as the search for the missing continued.

“So far, 77 passengers have been rescued by Matusadonha rescue teams and others,” the CPU said, adding that “15 bodies have also been retrieved”, and two funeral parlours have been engaged to collect the bodies for processing.

About 27 people remain unaccounted for.

A specialised aquatic rescue unit has been airlifted to the area to aid in the search, the CPU added.

Lake Kariba lies on Zimbabwe’s border with Zambia, more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the capital Harare.

It is the world’s largest man-made lake by volume.