Old video falsely linked to deadly Zimbabwe boat accident in August 2026
Dozens were killed after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba in August 2026, but a video circulating online does not show the accident. It was in fact filmed in DR Congo and shows a separate accident in October 2024.
“Eighty-four killed in Zimbabwe ferry accident; 18 children among the dead,” reads a Bengali-language caption on a Facebook video shared on August 18, 2026.
The 23-second clip, viewed more than 400,000 times and shared over 1,000 times, shows a packed transport vessel tipping over. People can be seen swimming away from the boat as it sinks.
Screenshot of the false post captured on August 25, 2026, with red X added by AFP
The video circulated after an overloaded ferry capsized on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba on August 11, killing at least 94 people (archived links here and here).
Officials said the boat was authorised to carry 90 people but was packed with 114 adults, five crew members and an unspecified number of children ( archived link).
The same video was also shared elsewhere on Facebook and in countries including Nigeria and Kenya with the false claim.
However, it does not show the accident in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s state-owned newspaper The Herald published a picture of the ferry that capsized, which does not resemble the ship seen in the false video ( archived link).
AFP also published a video showing that the capsized ferry has a flat underside, while the ferry in the circulating video has a V-shaped hull.
Old video
A reverse image search on Google found an identical video in an Al Jazeera report published on October 3, 2024 with a headline that reads: “Boat capsizes in Democratic Republic of Congo” ( archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and the Al Jazeera report from October 2024
Another video uploaded to social media on the day shows the same scene, with a caption saying bodies were recovered following the accident on Lake Kivu ( archived link).
The video has previously circulated in another false claim debunked by AFP.
The boat was crossing Lake Kivu in eastern DR Congo when it sank. A survivor told AFP it “started to tilt and suddenly we were all in the water” ( archived link).
At least 78 people were killed in the accident, according to Jean-Jacques Purusi, the governor of South Kivu ( archived link).
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