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Wails, sobs as Rwanda genocide is marked

 
Associated Press
Associated Press
Published April 8, 2014

Rwanda on Monday commemorated the 20th anniversary of the genocide that killed nearly a million people, with dozens overcome by grief at recalling the horror. At a public ceremony at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, the capital, a wailing and distraught woman is carried away to receive help. Bloodcurdling screams and sorrowful wails resounded throughout the packed sports stadium as world leaders and thousands of Rwandans gathered to hear of healing and hope. "As we pay tribute to the victims, both the living and those who have passed, we also salute the unbreakable Rwandan spirit in which we owe the survival and renewal of our country," President Paul Kagame said. Kagame and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon lit a flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, which honors the Rwandans who perished in three months of machete and gunfire attacks mostly aimed at the country's minority Tutsi population by extremist Hutus.