Cyriaque Simbizi

Cyriaque Simbizi (died 6 April 1994) was a Burundian Minister of Communication who was assassinated in a plane shootdown.

Death and aftermath

Simbizi died on 6 April 1994 at 08:25 UTC, along with Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, when the plane in which he was riding was brought down while landing at the Kigali International Airport where the politicians were making a stopover. The Dassault Falcon 50 jet (registration number "9XR-NN") was owned by Habyarimana, the president of the Republic of Rwanda.

Simbizi was on his way back to Burundi from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, where he had gone to attend a summit meeting, accompanying Ntaryamira. All on board were killed. The assassinations were a major contributing factor in the Rwandan genocide in which the Hutu population attacked and killed the Tutsi and moderate Hutu.