Rusumo Bridge is an international bridge across the

Kagera River The Kagera River, also known as Akagera River, or Alexandra Nile, is an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G ...

linking Rwanda and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

History

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The bridge was completed in 1972 as a single-deck steel bridge over a span of . The structure was the first road bridge across the Kagera River in Rusumo area. The bridge is an arch bridge whose construction commenced in 1966. On 28 April 1994, during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

, more than 200,000 people crossed the bridge at Rusumo Falls into Tanzania within 24 hours in what field workers described as "''the largest and fastest refugee exodus in modern times''". Given the restrictions on the axle load and the use of only a single lane at a time, a new bridge, the Rusumo International Bridge, adjacent to the single lane bridge, was opened in 2014 to cope with expected increase of the traffic volume between Rwanda and Tanzania in the coming years.

References

Bridges over the Kagera River Rwanda–Tanzania bridges Bridges in Rwanda Bridges in Tanzania Rwanda–Tanzania border {{Africa-bridge-struct-stub