Tragic: Fire Devastates Packed Church, Killing At Least 41 People
Tragedy strikes worshippers in Cairo this past weekend, one of the worst impacting the Christian community in Egypt in recent memory.
Associate Press reports, “A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital on Sunday, quickly filling it with thick black smoke and killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children.”
The fire occurred on Sunday at a little past 9am Cairo time.
Some people, trapped on upper floors, jumped to escape the flames. The source of the fire at the Martyr Abu Sefein church is still under investigation, but an early police report indicates it may have been started by an “electrical short-circuit.”
ABC news reports the interior ministry stated that the fire began in an air-conditioner on the second floor as a result of “an electrical fault.”
“The ministry, which said the fire had been brought under control, attributed the deaths to smoke inhalation. It said five policemen were injured. The health ministry said an ensuing stampede had also contributed to the deaths.”
The sorrow of parishioners was immediate and overwhelming. The loss of children in the fire was incomprehensible to those who only moments before were engaged in worship.
“Weeping families waited outside for word about relatives who were inside the church and at nearby hospitals where the victims were taken. Witnesses said there were many children inside the four-story building” when the fire broke out.
“There are children, we didn’t know how to get to them,” said Abu Bishoy, a witness who gave only a partial name. “And we don’t know whose son this is, or whose daughter that is. Is this possible?”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Facebook, “I closely follow the developments of the painful accident in Al-Munira Church in Jiza Governorate, and all the institutions of the concerned state have directed to take all necessary measures, and immediately to deal with this accident and its effects and to provide all aspects of healthcare to the injured …”
Christians make up about 10% of the population in Egypt and have long reported discrimination by the country’s largely Muslim majority.
The global community of believers are united in prayer for the surviving loved ones who must now grieve those who were lost, repair what has been damaged, and move forward in faith.
