Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira
A Dassault Falcon 50 similar to the one involved in the assassination | |
| Shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 6, 1994 |
| Summary | Shot down by surface-to-air missiles |
| Site | Presidential Palace gardens, near Kigali International Airport, Kigali, Rwanda 1°58′32″S 30°10′26″E / 1.97556°S 30.17389°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Dassault Falcon 50 |
| Registration | 9XR-NN |
| Flight origin | Dar es Salaam International Airport, Kipawa, Ilala, Tanzania |
| Stopover | Kigali International Airport, Kigali, Rwanda |
| Destination | Bujumbura International Airport, Bujumbura, Burundi |
| Occupants | 12 |
| Passengers | 9 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 12 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Part of a series on the |
| Rwandan genocide |
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President of Rwanda 1973–1994
Government
Presidential elections Battles/wars
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On the evening of 6 April 1994, the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutu, was shot down with surface-to-air missiles as their jet prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda; both were killed. The assassination set in motion the Rwandan genocide, one of the bloodiest events of the late 20th century.
Responsibility for the attack is disputed. Most theories propose as suspects either the Tutsi rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) or government-aligned Hutu Power followers opposed to negotiation with the RPF.