CAIRO — At least 41 people were killed and about a dozen others were injured after a fire broke out at a Coptic Orthodox church in Greater Cairo as worshipers gathered for Sunday prayers, according to the country’s health ministry.
The fire at Abu Sefein Church – one of the largest in the Giza Municipality – was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years. It is believed to be caused by a faulty air-conditioning unit on the second floor of the building, which also housed classrooms, Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement.
Father Mikhael Guirguis, the deputy leader of the Archdiocese of Northern Giza, told a church-affiliated TV channel that he saw children among the dead. Another priest at a nearby church who also spoke to the same TV station said children had been moved to the top floor of the building when the fire broke out, rather than being evacuated.
Most of the deaths and injuries resulted from smoke inhalation and a stampede as people tried to flee the burning building, the Ministry of Health said:. The Interior Ministry said the fire was under control.
Some residents of Imbaba, the heavily populated neighborhood where the church is located, criticized the response from the government and emergency services. A woman said: in footage from the scene shared by Al Jazeera that the emergency services only arrived two and a half hours.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi spoke by phone with the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, on Sunday and expressed his condolences, according to a statement from the president’s office.
“I am closely following the developments of the tragic accident,” said Mr el-Sisi. said in a statement on Twitter. “I have instructed all relevant government agencies and institutions to take all necessary measures and to address this accident and its consequences immediately.”
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 100 million residents, who are primarily Sunni Muslims. The minority group is often the victim of widespread discrimination and violent attacks, including by the Islamic State branch in Egypt’s Sinai province.
The country’s chief prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, said he ordered an investigation into the blaze. In March 2021, a fire at a clothing factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people.
Liam Stack contributed reporting from New York.
