Twenty-two more bodies have been recovered from the Lake Kariba boat accident, bringing the death toll to a grim 68, Zimbabwean police announced on Saturday. Because apparently, when you pack a ferry with 114 adults, five crew members, and an undisclosed number of children - despite it being authorized for only 90 - the sea (or lake) tends to object.

The ferry capsized on Tuesday on Lake Kariba, which sits on the border with Zambia. An investigation has suggested it was overloaded when it went over during heavy winds. Overloaded? You don't say. It's almost as if exceeding the passenger limit by at least 24 souls might have something to do with it.

Eighteen children were among the dead, in what is believed to be Zimbabwe's deadliest such disaster. Most passengers were villagers and fish traders who lived around the lake, likely just trying to get home or sell their catch, not become statistics.

Lt Col Joseph Muchechesi, commander of the boat regiment involved in the search operation, said: "So far today we have managed to take 22 bodies. We are confident that we will manage to retrieve all the bodies." Confidence is nice, but it doesn't bring back the dead.

The civil protection unit said on Wednesday that 77 people had been rescued, which is something, though it pales next to the 68 confirmed dead and the likelihood of more to come.

Hundreds of people gathered at the district hospital in the lakeside town of Kariba to identify the bodies of relatives and loved ones. A public memorial service was held in Kariba, nearly 280km (175 miles) north-west of the capital Harare, on Thursday before burials began.

Survivors said they pleaded with the ferry driver to turn back as the vessel had begun taking on water soon after departing. Chance Siyamavhu, 45, told the Agence France-Presse: "Thank God that a wave pushed the sinking vessel and we managed to climb on top. When the boat capsized, most of the people scrambled to get the lifejackets but most of them did not even know how to use them." Because what's a lifejacket without a manual? And who has time for a tutorial when your boat is sinking?

Lake Kariba, the world's largest manmade lake by volume, stretches more than 200km (124 miles) and is up to 40km (25 miles) wide. It was created in the 1950s during British colonial rule, when the Zambezi River was dammed, displacing about 57,000 people. It's been a source of tragedy ever since: in 2014, 26 people, 24 of them children, drowned in Zambia's part of the lake when their boat capsized en route to independence day celebrations. On the Zimbabwean side, five passengers drowned in a 2021 incident.

So, to recap: an overloaded boat, high winds, passengers who can't use lifejackets, and a lake with a history of swallowing people. But hey, at least the authorities are confident they'll find all the bodies. Small mercies.