At least 15 people have drowned and 27 are missing after a boat sank on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, officials have said.

The boat had a capacity to carry 90 passengers and five crew members but a lake official had reported that 120 people, including 12 children, were on it, police said.

The vessel was hit by a strong wave and overturned, police added. Footage shared online appears to show the overturned hull floating in the water.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared a state of disaster, as search and rescue operations intensify. A total of 77 people have been rescued so far.

Lake Kariba, which straddles the border with Zambia, is one of the world's largest man-made reservoirs, supporting transport and fishing and providing vital hydroelectric power to both countries.

Mutsa Murombedzi, a local member of parliament, posted a video on X of what she said was the boat at the start of the journey, adding that residents had been using it to travel across the lake to Kariba town, a journey that takes about five hours.

"We have very hard questions that require honest answers. The officials must release the correct number of people who were onboard," she wrote.

The Zimbabwe Civil Protection Unit (CPU) said that registered ticket sales showed 114 adult passengers were on the vessel. There could also have been an unknown number of children below ticketing age, it added.

The CPU confirmed that 77 passengers had so far been rescued, and 15 bodies had been retrieved.

Two funeral parlours were collecting the bodies, it added.

Local government minister Daniel Garwe said the president had declared a state of disaster to ensure "all necessary resources are mobilised" for search and rescue operations.

He said 27 people were still unaccounted for and an unconfirmed number of children were also believed to have been on the vessel.

Garwe added that an army boat squadron, a police sub-aqua unit and a privately owned helicopter were involved in search and rescue operations.

"The government extends its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in this tragic incident," he said in a statement.

Source: BBC

--Agencies