
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 18, 1994                   TAG: 9407180145
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GOMA, ZAIRE                                LENGTH: Medium

THE ONLY WAY LEFT TO GO

There was no room, but still they came Friday, a barely moving mass of humanity abandoned by the government army and terrified of the rebel forces advancing across western Rwanda.

With crossing gates into Zaire thrown open, it was impossible to count how many Hutu refugees had arrived in two days. But it likely was far more than 500,000, making it one of the largest flights in history.

Friday's arrivals found most space already taken. Relief officials have already seen signs of disease in the camps, where food, water and shelter are rare commodities.

``It's even worse than our worst-case scenario,'' said Panos Moumtzis, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commission on Refugees in Goma. ``It's the largest exodus in a short period of time. The needs right now are extreme.''

The Red Cross set up two feeding centers north of Goma, and the line quickly grew miles long. Officials said the sites were chosen to keep the refugees moving out of the city to avoid trouble with local residents.

Leaders of the Hutu interim government fled Gisenyi, their stronghold across the border from Goma, as Tutsi-dominated rebels closed on the city, pursuing what remained of the government army in full retreat.

Busloads of Rwandan soldiers scurried into Zaire. About 350 were housed at one military barracks.

The United States cut diplomatic ties Friday with the Hutu government, blamed by President Clinton for supporting ``genocidal massacre.'' The Embassy of Rwanda was ordered closed, and its personnel were ordered to leave the United States within five working days.

In Rwanda, the columns of Hutus waiting to pass through the three border crossings into Zaire stretched for miles.

The Hutus fear the rebels want to avenge widespread massacres of minority Tutsis by extremist supporters of Rwanda's Hutu-dominated government. The Hutu militiamen have been blamed for most of the estimated 200,000 to 500,000 deaths in the past three months in the small central-African nation.

by CNB