KIGALI, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan police on Saturday said the situation has been normalized by the police and security agencies following Friday night's deadly attack in Kinigi sector, gateway to Volcanoes National Park where endangered mountain gorillas live.
Assailants equipped with crude weapons including knives and pangas and guns attacked a village in Kinigi sector, Musanze District in northern Rwanda, around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, killing eight and injuring 18 others, police spokesperson John Bosco Kabera told Xinhua in a telephone interview. The national police and security agencies intervened immediately and averted the attack, said Kabera.
The authorities have started investigations to identify the attackers, he said, adding that so far no arrests have been made in connection with the attacks.
Tourism services continue to operate normally in Volcanoes National Park and all other national parks and attractions in Rwanda, Rwanda Development Board said in a statement earlier on Saturday.
All visitors to Volcanoes National Park were and continue to be safe, said the government agency.
Rwanda will continue to prioritize safety and security of tourism, it added.
Rwanda sold 15,132 mountain gorilla permits worth 19.2 million U.S. dollars to tourists in 2018, statistics from Rwanda Development Board showed.
Last month, about 50,000 people from Rwanda and abroad including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, senior government officials, world-famous celebrities attended the annual mountain gorillas naming ceremony Kwita Izina in Kinigi.
There are over 1,000 mountain gorillas living in the world, more than half of which live in the Virunga Mountains, where Volcanoes National Park lies, according to World Wildlife Fund.
