The Titanic Express massacre
was an event which took place on 28 December 2000, in which 21 people were killed in an attack on a ''Titanic Express'' bus, close to
Bujumbura
Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...
(the then-capital of
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
).
The passengers, who had traveled from
Kigali
Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
in
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
, were
robbed
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
of their valuables and then separated according to their ethnicity.
Hutus
The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the prin ...
and most
Congolese were released unharmed. The
Tutsis
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...
on board, and one
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
woman,
Charlotte Wilson
Charlotte Mary Wilson (6 May 1854, Kemerton, Worcestershire – 28 April 1944, Irvington-on-Hudson, New York) was an English Fabian and anarchist who co-founded '' Freedom'' newspaper in 1886 with Peter Kropotkin, and edited, published, ...
, who was traveling with her Burundian fiancé, were forced to lie face down on the ground and then shot. According to news reports, one of the Hutu passengers had been told to "tell the army we're going to kill them all and there's nothing you can do."
The attack took place in the province of
Bujumbura Rural
Bujumbura Rural Province is one of the 18 provinces of Burundi. Former President of Burundi Cyprien Ntaryamira was born here.
The province surrounds the former national capital Bujumbura. The provincial capital is Isale.
Communes
Bujumbura R ...
, a stronghold of the Hutu-extremist group Palipehutu-FNL (commonly known as
FNL). The group is known for its hostility to the Tutsi ethnic group, and is believed to have carried out dozens of similar attacks in the same area. Although the FNL has denied responsibility for the "Titanic Express" attack, the Burundian authorities and a number of human rights groups have publicly blamed them for the massacre.
In May 2001, the
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...
attributed the Titanic Express attack to "troops under the order of... Agathon Rwasa". In January 2004, the
''Sunday Times'' announced the discovery of a document which appears to be an
FNL report, signed by a senior commander, detailing how the Titanic Express massacre was carried out. In June 2006, detailed eyewitness accounts of the attack were published in the book ''Titanic Express: Finding Answers in the Aftermath of Terror'', by Richard Wilson, the brother of Charlotte Wilson.
References
Further reading
* Richard Wilson (2006) ''Titanic Express: Finding Answers in the Aftermath of Terror'' Continuum International Publishing Group - Academi
External links
The Guardian - "Murders in Burundi 'war crimes' says dead aid worker's family", 2 January 2001International - "Between Hope and Fear", March 2001In Burundi - "TITANIC TROIS ANS DEJA", 28 December 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titanic Express Massacre
Massacres of ethnic groups
Massacres in Burundi
Mass murder in 2000
2000 in Burundi
December 2000 events in Africa
Burundian Civil War
Tutsi