A fire has ripped through a packed church during morning services in Egypt’s capital, killing at least 41 worshipers and injuring 14.
The church was quickly filled with thick black smoke and witnesses said several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors to escape the Sunday morning fire.
“Suffocation, suffocation, all dead,” said one dismayed witness, who gave only a partial name, Abu Bishoy.
Charred furniture, including wooden tables and chairs, and religious images are seen at the site of a fire inside the Abu Sefein Coptic Church that killed at least 40 people and injured around 14 others on Sunday in the densely populated neighborhood of Imbaba, Cairo, Egypt. , Aug. 14, 2022. The church said the fire occurred while a service was being held. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short circuit, according to a police statement. (AP)
The cause of the fire at Abu Sefein Church in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short circuit, according to a police statement.
Images of the scene that circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs.
Firefighters were seen putting out the fire, while others were transporting the victims to ambulances. The families waited for news from relatives who were inside the church.
Witnesses said there were many children inside the building when the fire broke out.
“There are kids we didn’t know how to get to,” Abu Bishoy said.
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fire at the Abu Sefein church that killed more than 40 people and injured at least 14 others in the densely populated Imbaba neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. August 2022. The church said that the fire occurred while a service was being held. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but police said an initial investigation blamed an electrical short circuit. (AP Photo/Mohamed Salah) (AP)
“And we don’t know whose son this is, or whose daughter she is. Is that possible?”
The country’s health minister blamed smoke and a stampede as people tried to flee the fire for the deaths. It was one of the worst fire tragedies in Egypt in recent years.
Witness Emad Hanna said the church includes two places used as a daycare center for children and that a church worker managed to get many children out.
“We went up and found people dead,” he said.
“And we started to see from outside that the smoke was getting bigger, and people wanted to jump from the top floor… We found the children.”
Egypt’s Coptic Church and the country’s health ministry reported the number of victims.
People gather as emergency personnel work at the scene of a fire at the Abu Sefein church that killed more than 40 people and injured at least 14 others in the densely populated Imbaba neighborhood of Cairo. Egypt, Sunday, August 14, 2022. The church said the fire broke out during a service. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short circuit, according to a police statement. (AP Photo/Tarek Wajeh) (AP)
The church said the fire occurred while a service was being held. The church is located on a narrow street in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Cairo.
Fifteen fire engines rushed to the scene to put out the flames while ambulances transported the victims to nearby hospitals, authorities said.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone with Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences, the president’s office said.
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, also offered his condolences to the head of the Coptic church.
“I am closely following the evolution of the tragic accident,” El-Sissi wrote on Facebook.
“I ordered all agencies and state institutions involved to take all necessary measures and to immediately deal with this accident and its effects.”
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fire at the Abu Sefein church that killed more than 40 people and injured at least 14 others in the densely populated Imbaba neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. August 2022. The church said that the fire occurred while a service was being held. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but police said an initial investigation blamed an electrical short circuit. (AP Photo/Mohamed Salah) (AP)
Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghafar said in a statement that two of the injured were released from a hospital while 12 others were still being treated.
The Home Office said it received a report of the fire at 9am (5pm AEST) and the fire was found to have started in an air conditioning unit on the second floor of the building
The ministry, which oversees police and firefighters, blamed an electrical short circuit for the fire, which produced a large amount of smoke.
The country’s chief prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation and a team of prosecutors was sent to the church.
Later in the day, emergency services said they managed to put out the fire and the prime minister and other senior government officials arrived to inspect the site.
Egypt’s Christians make up about 10 percent of the country’s more than 103 million people and have long complained of discrimination by the country’s Muslim majority.
Sunday’s fire was one of the worst fire tragedies in recent years in Egypt, where safety rules and fire regulations are poorly enforced. In March last year, a fire at a clothing factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people and injured 24 others.