Eighteen bodies believed to be of the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi were on Monday, August 5, found around IPRC-Karongi, in Bwishyura Sector, Karongi District. The bodies were discovered when a tree on the banks of lake Kivu fell and a local security guard approached to check out what had happened. On looking at the area around the uprooted roots, he was surprised to see old clothes underneath. Bothered by his strange discovery, he informed the school administration, and the matter was reported to the authorities. Officials at Bwishyura Sector then made arrangements to have the bodies extracted, the next day. READ ALSO: Over 2,000 Genocide victims' bodies discovered in Huye to get decent burial The next day, area residents and officials exhumed the remains of 18 people. “Apparently, this mass grave had many bodies. But because of the many years that have passed, most of the remains decomposed,” Valentine Mukase, the Mayor of Karongi District, told The New Times. READ ALSO: Huye: Details emerge for 141 genocide victims’ bodies discovered under house According to local sources, the bodies found in the area could be of former students and staff of the former EAFO Nyamishaba, ETO Kibuye, and other Tutsi who sought refuge at the schools but were killed and thrown into lake Kivu. In July 2019, the remains of over 15,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi were given a decent burial at a new memorial near Gatwaro Stadium in Karongi District.
