Damas Gisimba Mutezintare, a hero who saved over 400 people in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has passed on at the age of 61, The New Times has learned.

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When the genocide started in 1994, Gisimba was running an orphanage in Nyamirambo - Kigali, and he is credited for having hid more than 400 children and adults who had taken refuge at the centre.

When the genocidal forces were defeated, 405 children, and adults, who had been sheltered in the tiny compound were rescued.

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In a 2019 interview with The New Times, Gisimba said 405 people survived the Genocide from the orphanage. These ranged from babies of one week to teenagers and adults.

Gisimba was awarded the Presidential Order of Umurinzi — meaning protector — in recognition of his heroic actions.