The death toll from the Rida Mbuya Nehanda ferry disaster on Lake Kariba has risen to 92, making it Zimbabwe’s deadliest transport tragedy on record. The figure surpasses the 1991 Nyanga bus disaster, which claimed 89 lives, most of them schoolchildren.
Divers recovered eight additional bodies on Tuesday as search and recovery operations entered their second week. Bodies are now being found far from the initial accident site, including near Long Island and King’s Camp, with some drifting toward the Zambian border.
Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Marian Chombo, said the decomposed state of the latest recoveries is complicating identification efforts. Six bodies remain unidentified, and authorities have appealed to relatives to come forward. DNA testing may be required as visual identification through clothing and physical features becomes unreliable.
“We have been able to identify all but six of the bodies recovered so far, with 67 people rescued,” Chombo said. “It will be very difficult to identify the bodies that are being recovered. We are running out of time and DNA may now be needed to assist in the identification process.”
As of Tuesday, nine families were still waiting to claim relatives. Combined with the 67 survivors, the confirmed figures suggest an estimated 168 passengers were aboard the vessel, a number that could rise as lone travellers, particularly Traders who may not have informed family of their journey, remain unaccounted for.
The ferry serves as a vital, low-cost link for communities along the Kariba-Chalala route. Passengers pay as little as US$10, compared to roughly US$40 for the overland alternative via Siakobvu and Mola. The vessel was carrying parents taking children to rural homes for school holidays, traders restocking fishing camps, and buyers travelling to purchase fish for resale nationwide.
The impact has been concentrated in the Mola area of Nyaminyami Rural District, where at least 53 of the dead originated. Ward 3 Councillor Tight Bhusumani, who lost a child and a niece, said some families have waited six days without food as they remain at the lake shore hoping for recoveries.
“We have distressing cases where a child lost both parents and other siblings, leaving them as the only surviving member of the family,” Bhusumani said. He cited a 10-year-old who lost both parents and two siblings, now dependent on neighbours and well-wishers. Bhusumani acknowledged assistance from the area’s shadow Member of Parliament, Nigel Shamu, who has provided personal support to affected families.
The disaster now ranks among Zimbabwe’s most devastating peacetime tragedies. It exceeds the 1991 Nyanga bus crash and the 86 workers killed during the construction of Kariba Dam between 1956 and 1960. The deadliest incident in national history remains the 1972 Hwange Colliery Mine explosion, known as the Kamandama disaster, which killed 427 mineworkers.
Recovery operations continue across the lake and surrounding areas. Authorities have not ruled out a further rise in the death toll as divers expand their search perimeter.
