KIGALI, Rwanda - Survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda buried today the remains of hundreds of victims recovered from pit-latrines and mass graves to mark the 10th anniversary of the government-orchestrated slaughter that left more than 500,000 people dead.

The symbolic burial on a hillside marked the beginning of a week of mourning for the Tutsis and political moderates from the Hutu majority who were killed during the 100-day slaughter that tore apart this small central African nation.

The remains of hundreds, locked in 19 communal coffins, were lowered into tombs by families and genocide survivors keen to give loved ones a ritual burial years after they were killed by their neighbors under the orders of the extremist Hutu government then in power.

President Paul Kagame - whose then-rebel force ended the genocide by ousting the extremist government - laid a wreath on the 20th coffin before it was lowered into the grave. He then lit a flame that will burn for 100 days.

"Traditionally in Rwanda there is a fire that's lit during seven days of mourning," said James Smith of Aegis Trust, a British group that designed and helped construct the $2 million memorial site. The memorial flame will burn for 100 days to mark the span of the genocide.

"The flame reflects the traditional Rwandan culture of lighting fire during a period of mourning," Smith said.

As the remains were buried, thousands gathered at the Amahoro Stadium for a day of reflection on the horrors and pain of the genocide.

Cynthia and Sonia Dushime, 11-year-old twins whose entire family was killed during the genocide, handed a torch to Kagame for the lighting ceremony.

"Today is a special day because we get to remember our dead in a special way and bury them," Cynthia said. "We miss our mama and papa, we never got to know them."

Sonia added: "But we are told that our mom was very kind." Her voice then trailed off as she stared at the ground.

At noon, Rwanda, a former Belgian colony with 8.2 million people, fell silent for three minutes before survivors described their experiences to the nation.

Leaders from South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi, Belgium, Tanzania and Congo flew to Rwanda for the commemoration, as well as U.S. and European officials.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt is expected to inaugurate the memorial for 10 Belgian peacekeepers who were killed while protecting moderate Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyamana.

The genocide has drawn unusual apologies from then-President Clinton and the United Nations for failing to intervene. Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general whose U.N. peacekeepers had to stand by helplessly as the slaughter unfolded, went into a suicidal depression. The violence also spilled into neighboring Congo where it stoked two civil wars.