At least 18 children were among the dozens of people known to have died after a fire broke out at a church in Giza’s Imbaba neighborhood in greater Cairo on Sunday, according to hospital documents seen the children were aged 3 to 16 years old, according to the documents. The current death toll stands at 41 dead and 14 injured, said a statement from Egypt’s Coptic Church that cited health officials.
The fire was started at about 9 a.m. local time by an electrical failure in an air conditioning unit on the church’s second floor, the interior ministry said. The small church is located in the highly populated Imbaba neighborhood. At least two officers and three civil protection service members were injured responding to the fire, Egypt’s interior ministry announced in a Facebook post. Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by smoke inside church classrooms after the electric failure, the interior ministry said.
Church officials also believe the fire was accidental, Ibrahim said. Egypt’s Coptic community and churches have been a target of religious-based violence and attacks historically, with persecution and discrimination spiking since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011. The Egyptian president said he is closely following developments of the “tragic accident” and that he has directed state agencies and institutions to take the necessary measures to immediately deal with the tragedy and provide care for those injured.
Egyptian soccer player Mo Salah, who plays for Liverpool and captains the national team, also sent a message of support to those affected by the tragedy on Sunday, saying in a tweet: “My sincere condolences to the victims of the Abu Sefein Church, and my best wishes for a speedy recovery to all the injured.”
