The shooting down of the plane served as the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide , which began within a few hours . A crisis committee was formed by the military , headed by Colonel Théoneste Bagosora , which refused to recognise Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana as leader , even though she was legally next in the line of political succession . UN commander General Dallaire labelled this a coup and insisted that Uwilingiyimana be placed in charge , but Bagosora refused . The Presidential Guard killed Uwilingiyimana and her husband during the night , along with ten Belgian UNAMIR soldiers charged with her protection and other prominent moderate politicians and journalists . The crisis committee appointed an interim government , still effectively controlled by Bagosora , which began ordering the systematic killing of huge numbers of Tutsi , as well as some politically moderate Hutu , through well-planned attacks . Over the course of approximately 100 days between 500,000 and 1,000,000 were killed
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan Civil War