The assassination of presidents Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira in the evening of April 6, 1994 was the proximate trigger for the Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the murder of approximately 800,000 Tutsi and a smaller number of moderate Hutu. The first few days following the assassinations included a number of key events that shaped the subsequent course of the genocide. These included: the seizing of power by an interim government directed by the hard-line Akazu clique; the liquidation of opposition Hutu politicians; the implementation of plans to carry out a genocide throughout the country; and the murder of United Nations peacekeepers, contributing to the impulse of the international community to refrain from intervention. The crisis committee meets (6th) At approximately 8:20 pm on April 6, 1994, the plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) Chief of Staff Deogratias Nsabimana, and other prominent figures was shot down while approaching Kigali International Airport. Defence Minister Augustin Bizimana was in Cameroon attending a meeting, along with Col. Aloys Ntiwiragabo, head of army intelligence, G-2. Approximately one and a half to two hours after the crash, the officers at army headquarters in Kigali realized that they had to decide whom to appoint the new army chief of staff and somberly gathered in a meeting room. Soon after Col. Théoneste Bagosora, director of the office of the minister of defence, arrived and stated that it was his responsibility to chair the meeting. Bagosora had a poor reputation as a military man, having received his appointment due to his political connections in the governing MRND party. One colonel suggested that Major-General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, chief of the staff of the National Gendarmerie, would be a more appropriate choice, but Ndindiliyimana declined to take responsibility, to the astonishment of some officers. There was widespread fear of a power vacuum. Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was next in the line of political succession but most officers believed that she was not capable of governing; Bagosora dismissed the option of putting themselves under the authority of Uwiligiyimana. There was discussion about abiding by the Arusha Accords, but this would require consulting with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front on the next steps. Bagosora suggested that the military should take over, but received the support of only one officer, Lt-Col Cyprien Kayumba, director of Defense Ministry financial services. Most officers were desperate to avoid the impression of a coup