Dozens die in fire at Coptic Church in Cairo | The New Daily

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A fire has ripped through a church in the Egyptian capital of Cairo as congregants worshipped, killing at least 41 people and injuring another 14.

It was one of the worst fire tragedies in Egypt in recent years.

The cause of Sunday’s blaze, which produced huge amounts of smoke in the Abu Sefein church in the working-class neighbourhood of Imbaba, was not immediately known.

An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement.

#Egypt : Terrible loss of life in fire at church in #Giza governorate- 41 people feared dead & 14 others injured at Abi-Seyfen church in Imbaba #كنيسة_المنيرة #مصر pic.twitter.com/kgKmQ7HT97

— sebastian usher (@sebusher) August 14, 2022

The Coptic Church cited health officials in reporting the casualty toll.

It said the fire broke out while a service was under way.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone with the Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences, the president’s office said.

‘‘I am closely following the developments of the tragic accident,’’ Mr el-Sissi wrote on Facebook.

“I directed all concerned state agencies and institutions to take all necessary measures, and immediately to deal with this accident and its effects.”

The interior ministry said it received a report on the fire at 9am, and that the blaze was found to have broken out in an air-conditioner in the building’s second storey.

The ministry blamed an electrical short-circuit for the fire, which produced huge amounts of smoke.

The country’s chief prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation and a team of prosecutors were dispatched to the church.

Egypt’s Christians account for 10 per cent of the nation’s 90 million people and have long complained of discrimination by the nation’s Muslim majority.

Sunday’s blaze was one of the worst fire tragedies in recent years in a country where safety standards and fire regulations are poorly enforced.

In March last year, a fire at a garment factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people and injured 24 more.