Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994 TAG: 9404110165
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MULINDI, RWANDA LENGTH: Short
The International Red Cross said its workers in the Central African capital reported "hundreds and hundreds of dead and thousands of injured"; some reports spoke of thousands dead.
"The situation is confused. The capital has already been the scene of massacres," said the Red Cross coordinator in Kigali, Jean-Pascal Chappa. He said there were at least 1,000 dead, mostly members of the minority Tutsi ethnic group.
Troops have killed the acting premier, about 20 priests and nuns and dozens of aid workers, according to reports from diplomats, U.N. officials and humanitarian groups in Kigali.
Soldiers tortured and killed 10 and possibly 11 U.N. soldiers, reports said. None of the estimated 255 Americans in Rwanda was reported hurt, the U.S. State Department said.
It was unclear who - if anyone - was in control of the country amid the violence touched off by the deaths of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in a plane crash.
Much of the bloodshed was blamed on the presidential guard, whose 700 soldiers are dominated by hard-liners from the majority Hutu ethnic group. Some diplomats speculated the guard was trying to keep other factions from claiming the presidency.
by CNB