Burundian Hutu rebels claimed responsibility, insisting the camp for Congolese Tutsi refugees fleeing tribal fighting was a hide-out for Burundian army soldiers and Congolese tribal militiamen.
However, most of the victims in the attack appeared to be women and children. Their charred bodies lay among cooking utensils and smoldering remnants of their former homes as relatives wailed in anguish Saturday.
The attack late Friday echoed the killing during Rwanda's 1994 genocide and raised fears of retaliatory violence that could undo peace efforts in neighboring Congo. UN officials visiting the camp after the attack said it sheltered ethnic Tutsi refugees, known as the Banyamulenge, who fled fighting in Congo's troubled border province of South Kivu.
"People were sleeping when the attack happened," said Eliana Nabaa, spokeswoman of the UN mission in Congo. "People were killed as they tried to escape."
Isabelle Abric, spokeswoman for the UN mission in Burundi, said 159 people were killed on the spot. At least 30 people died in a hospital, she said.
Leaflets distributed before the raid warned refugees to leave the camp or face attacks by a coalition of Burundian, Rwandan and Congolese armed factions seeking "to fight the Tutsi colonization in the region," survivors said.
The attackers spoke languages spoken in Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, and were believed to have crossed into Burundi from Congo, witnesses said. They asked not to be named for fear of retribution.
Later Saturday, Burundian officials and aid workers transferred the refugees to a nearby school where they will be protected by the army, said Louis Niyonzima, the local mayor.
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