United News of Bangladesh

The death toll from a ferry disaster on Lake Kariba has risen to 72 after rescuers recovered 26 more bodies on Saturday. At least 17 children were among those killed when the overloaded vessel capsized earlier this week. The incident occurred on Tuesday amid strong waves while the aging ferry was traveling from the town of Kariba toward rural and fishing communities in the country’s northwest. Officials noted that the vessel is a critical link for the region, where roads are heavily damaged and public transportation is extremely scarce. While authorities have not yet confirmed the total number of people on board or those still missing, current estimates suggest as many as 153 passengers were on the ferry, which had a reported capacity of only 90. Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency stated that 77 people have been rescued to date. Police initially faced difficulty determining the number of children aboard because those below ticketing age were not included in initial passenger manifests. However, a recently released police list showed that 16 of the child victims were aged 10 or younger, including a infant just one year old. Lake Kariba, the world’s largest human-made lake by volume, was created by damming the Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The lake stretches more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) in length and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) in width, with the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia running through its center.