After the meeting, Habyarimana was returning with others, including Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi, around 8:00 PM, when the plane approached Kigali for landing as usual.
Moments later, a missile struck one wing of the aircraft over Masaka airspace, followed by another hitting its tail. The plane caught fire and crashed in Habyarimana's compound in Kanombe, near the military camp and the airport.
That compound, now located in Kamashashi Cell, Nyarugunga Sector, Kicukiro District, still bears remnants of the original gate and security outposts.
Jeanne d'Arc Mukazayire, a resident of Kibaya less than 10 minutes from Habyarimana's house, told IGIHE that immediately after the crash, a sweep began targeting all Tutsi in Nyarugunga.
'It was 8:40 p.m. Wherever there was a Tutsi, they were immediately targeted. They knockedâ€"if you opened the door, you were shot. Anyone claiming the killings happened on April 10 is lying; it all began that very night. Only those who had fled into the wild survived,' she recalls.
Mukazayire explained that soldiers from Habyarimana's residence and from the Kanombe military camp carried out the killings in Nyarugunga that night. The next morning, April 7, 1994, Interahamwe militia continued the hunt, killing Tutsi survivors with machetes and clubs.
'They slaughtered people, even those hiding under bridges. On the second and third days, April 8, we fled to Masaka Church. They followed us. A young child, maybe 7 or 8 years old, held up a photo of Habyarimana and said, 'Isn't this the one you killed?' Then they hacked people like they were cutting down corn, with machetes and clubs labeled 'Mpongano y'Umwanzi' (revenge on the enemy),'
Kanziga's orders to kill
Genocide survivors say that after the plane was shot down, Habyarimana's wife, Agathe Kanziga, ordered soldiers at the compound to kill all Tutsi in the surrounding area.
Kanziga wielded significant power in Habyarimana's regime and is believed to have been deeply involved in planning the genocide against the Tutsi. Her influence was reinforced by her family connections, including her brother, Colonel Elie Sagatwa, a high-ranking officer, at the time.
Part of the crashed plane landed in the yard of Marie Chantal Niyonshuti's family, whose house bordered Habyarimana's.
Now living in Kanombe, Niyonshuti recounted Kanziga's role, 'A soldier I was friends with confided in me that the Tutsi around Habyarimana's home were killed on Kanziga's orders immediately after the death of her husband.'
Josephine Musanabera, who lives in Mukoni village beneath the former presidential home, confirmed that Kanziga stood at the gates issuing kill orders.
'She told neighbors, those living near Niyonshuti, near Murasira and Murara that night that she didn't want that 'filth.' The filth of Tutsi killed my husband.' Following Kanziga's command, soldiers from the compound attacked their Tutsi neighbors with guns and acid, killing them with extreme cruelty.
Burning the bodies with acid
Before the genocide officially kicked off, local families were prohibited from visiting the presidential household, with a posted warning: 'Only residents allowed.' Niyonshuti confirmed that the soldiers who killed their neighbors were exclusively Habyarimana's guards and staff.
'After the crash, it was Habyarimana's soldiers and workers, not outsiders who dragged people out, shouting 'come out, come out!' and immediately shot them. Then they took the bodies away,' she remembers. She said the corpses were taken to Kanombe military camp and incinerated with acid.
'Before daybreak, they removed them so that when investigators came to examine the wreckage, no Tutsi bodies would be found. They were taken to the military camp and burned. No one waited for dawn. Anyone who survived probably escaped under a pile of bodies or by sheer miracle.'
Rebuilding lives after survival
After the Genocide against the Tutsi was stopped in 1994, Mukazayire returned to her destroyed home. She was later provided housing by FARG, the government fund for genocide survivors, in Kinyinya sector, Gasabo district.
'We're living well now. We sleep peacefully. We get treatment when sick, FARG pays for it. We've moved on from those dark days. We live in a village now and have no problems. I have a place to lay my head and live like anyone else.'
Niyonshuti said the government supported her through university, and she now has hope for the future. She's proud that Rwanda has eliminated ethnic discrimination and continues to progress in all sectors.
To preserve her family's legacy and contribute to development, she opened a bar called Akagoroba on their old land near Habyarimana's former residence. It's now a popular community hangout in Nyarugunga.
Josephine Musanabera, another survivor, who often suffered severe trauma from her past, said messages of hope from leaders, especially President Paul Kagame, who restored her will to live.
'We're focused on surviving and thriving now. We've rolled up our sleeves and rebuilt. We want to leave a better country for our children. And we are so grateful to our government. It stands by us, and our children are in school.'
The Genocide against the Tutsi claimed over a million lives in just 100 days, making it the fastest genocide in recorded history.
IGIHE
