1994 Rwandan genocide testimony by Zacharie Benedata

Zacharie Benedata, a boy from Nyabitare, Gihira Sector of Commune Kayenzi in Gitarama Prefecture, describes how his neighborhood was attacked on April 19, 1994, and how he escaped to his grandparents’ home in Mugina. Zacharie's home was looted and then set on fire. He also describes how a gang hacked many people to death in his neighborhood. Zacharie escaped and hid under a bridge, then fled to Migobagoba, and later to Bukavu in Zaire (present day day Democratic Republic of the Congo). He stayed in Zaire until he was brought back to Rwanda with other refugees on July 6, 1995, more than one year after the genocide began.