Rwandans were gathering on Sunday for a solemn commemoration of the lives of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus murdered during the Rwandan genocide, a three-month-killing spree that began 25 years ago.

The ceremony marks the beginning of a week of events to honor the dead. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is scheduled to lay a wreath at Gisozi genocide memorial site, where over a quarter a million of people are buried.

In the afternoon, officials will join around 2,000 people in a "walk to remember" from parliament to the national soccer stadium, where candles will be lit in a night vigil.