BURUNDI: TRIBES PEOPLE ATTEND GOVERNMENT RALLY AS COUNTRY SHOWS SIGNS OF RECENT FIGHTING.

Record ID: 215503

  • Title: BURUNDI: TRIBES PEOPLE ATTEND GOVERNMENT RALLY AS COUNTRY SHOWS SIGNS OF RECENT FIGHTING.
  • Date: 9th June 1972
  • Summary: 1. SV Flag TILT DOWN to official addressing crowd (3 shots) 0.10 2. GTV Crowd 0.14 3. SV Army officer and others listen 0.16 4. Aerial View burned-out houses and deserted village (2 shots) 0.29 5. Aerial View burned-out car at roadside 0.37 6. Aerial View more burned-out houses 0.43 7. CU Pilot of aircraft 0.45 8. Aer
  • Embargoed: 24th June 1972 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUJUMBURA, and District, BURUNDI
  • Country: Burundi
  • Reuters ID: LVA9CNBD4OGA3EZIWZ2GLOSX2HY5
  • Story Text: Burundi's President Michel Micombero has declared that peace has been restored in the republic following a reported outbreak of fighting between the ruling Tutsi tribe and the majority Hutu population.

    Thousands of tribesmen are reported to have died in the violence which the President described as an attempt to oust the Tutsi tribe from power.

    At a public rally near Bujumbura, Government officers explained to townspeople that the fighting was over and the country had returned to normal.

    A Visnews cameraman who flew over areas reported to have been ravaged in the fighting filmed scenes of devastation, with villages deserted, homes burned-out and bodies lying in the shallows of Lake Tanganyika.

    President Micombero has claimed genocide against the Tutsi. Other reports say that thousands of educated Hutu tribesmen have been killed in retaliation.

    One company operating in Bujumbura says all its Hutu workers are missing, believed to be dead.

    The recent fighting follows two other officially admitted coup attempts -- in 1965 and 1969. There are believed to be 600,000 Tutsi and three million Hutu in the republic.

    SYNOPSIS: People from surrounding villages gather near Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, in Central Africa, to hear an official explain that peace has been restored in the republic following a reported outbreak of fighting. The trouble is said to have broken out between the ruling Tutsi, and the majority Hutu tribe.

    A Visnews cameraman flew over areas reported to have been ravaged in the fighting. He saw deserted villages, burned-out homes and other signs of devastation.

    Thousands of tribesmen are reported to have been killed in the violence, which President Michael Micombero described as an attempt to oust the historically elitist Tutsi tribe from power. On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, bodies were seen floating in the shallows. President Micombero claimed genocide against the Tutsi, but other reports say thousands of educated Hutu tribesmen have been killed in retaliation.

    In Bujumbura, there is little sign of trouble, but elsewhere, the situation is still not fully known as the six-hundred-thousand Tutsi continue to rule over the three million Hutu.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register