The confirmed death toll from the RIDA-owned Mbuya Nehanda ferry has risen to 97 after search and recovery teams retrieved two more bodies from Lake Kariba on Thursday.
The development came as salvage engineers started a delicate operation to right the capsized vessel ahead of a full technical investigation.
The two bodies, a woman and a young boy, were found drifting near Fothergill Island and towards King’s Camp.
Their discovery triggered a swift multi-agency response involving the Zimbabwe National Army, the police sub-aqua unit and Lake Kariba harbourmaster Lameck Chitenga.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the recovery late on Thursday afternoon and said the death toll from the Kariba boat accident now stands at 97 after the two bodies were recovered from the lake.
“The ZRP reports that the Kariba RIDA Boat accident death toll is now 97 after the recovery of two bodies from the lake this afternoon,” the ZRP said.
While the latest recovery initially brought the death toll in line with figures compiled from relatives’ missing-person reports, Mashonaland West provincial Local Government Services director Cecilia Chitiyo said a body of a young woman recovered on Tuesday did not match anyone on the list.
“With the recovery of two bodies today (yesterday), we have reached the estimated number of bodies we are looking for based on relatives who came forward reporting missing persons,” said Chitiyo.
“However, we have a body that was recovered on Tuesday of a woman in her 20s, which remains unclaimed. This means we still have one body missing from our list.”
Chitiyo said the death toll would rise to 98 if the woman is confirmed as an additional victim rather than a duplicate.
She added that search and recovery efforts will continue until the outstanding case is resolved and to account for any passengers who may not have been formally reported missing.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply