Zimbabwe's national police service said in a post on X on Sunday that the death toll from a ferry accident on Lake Kariba on August 11 had risen to 80 after eight more bodies were found.

The ferry capsized in strong waves on Tuesday and police said tens of bodies were recovered since then, bringing the death toll to 80.

The ferry was travelling from Kariba town to rural and fishing communities in the country's northwest. Authorities have not said how many people were aboard or how many remain missing.

Estimates have put the number of passengers as high as 153, while authorities say the ferry’s capacity is 90. Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency has said 77 people were rescued.

Number of children aboard unknown

Authorities initially said the number of children aboard was unknown because those below ticketing age were not included in passenger estimates. A police list released later showed that 16 of the child victims were aged 10 or younger, with the youngest just 1.

Kariba is the world’s largest human-made lake by volume, created by damming the Zambezi River in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It stretches more than 200 kilometres and is up to 40 kilometres wide in places.