Albinos in Burundi flee killings

Albinos in Burundi have been taking refuge after three of them were killed by gangs apparently seeking to sell body parts in neighbouring Tanzania.

Four albinos were moved to a provincial centre on Thursday in Ruyigi, Burundi, where police were protecting them, the BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge reports.

Authorities have arrested six people in connection with the murder of an albino teenage girl in August.

The attacks follow the killing of 26 Tanzanian albinos in less than a year.

A BBC correspondent's investigation there revealed that witchdoctors were behind the killings.

They sought albino body parts for potions that they claimed could make people rich.

Two of the albinos killed in Burundi - a man and a teenage girl - were reportedly found dead with their legs and arms missing.

Police said the tip of the girl's tongue was also removed.

Neighbours of another teenage albino girl killed in Ruyigi in August chased away her attackers, six of whom were later apprehended as they came to retrieve her body parts.

They are said to have told police that they were planning to sell the body parts in Tanzania.

Our correspondent says that albinos in Burundi - estimated to number around 200 - are now living in fear for their lives.