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 ...

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

External links

The Guardian - "Murders in Burundi 'war crimes' says dead aid worker's family", 2 January 2001

International - "Between Hope and Fear", March 2001

In 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

References

Further reading

External links