41 dead after fire in packed Cairo church during morning service

14 August 2022, 18:54

Egypt Fire
Egypt Fire. Picture: PA

The country’s health minister blamed the smoke and a stampede as people attempted to flee the blaze for causing the deaths.

A fire has ripped through a packed church during morning services in Egypt’s capital, killing at least 41 worshippers including at least 10 children.

The church in Cairo quickly filled with thick black smoke and witnesses said several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors to escape.

“Suffocation, suffocation, all of them dead,” said distraught witness Abu Bishoy.

Sixteen people were injured, including four policemen involved in the rescue effort.

The cause of the blaze 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.

Footage from the scene circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs.

Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances. Families waited for word on relatives who were inside the church.

Witnesses said there were many children inside the building when the fire broke out.

“There are children we didn’t know how to get to them,” said Abu Bishoy. “And we don’t know whose son this is, or whose daughter that is. Is this possible?”

The country’s health minister blamed the smoke and a stampede as people attempted to flee the fire for causing 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 day care facility for children, and that a church worker managed to get many children out.

“We went upstairs and found people dead. And we started to see from outside that the smoke was getting bigger, and people want to jump from the upper floor.”

“We went upstairs and found people dead. And we started to see from outside that the smoke was getting bigger, and people want to jump from the upper floor. … We found the children.”

Egypt Fire
The blaze broke out in the densely populated neighbourhood of Imbaba (Mohamed Salah/AP)

Egypt’s Coptic Church and the country’s health ministry reported the casualty toll.

The church said the fire broke out while a service was under way. The church is located in a narrow street in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Cairo.

Fifteen firefighting vehicles were dispatched to the scene to put out the flames while ambulances ferried casualties to nearby hospitals.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone with the Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences, the president’s office said. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam, also offered his condolences to the head of the Coptic church.

“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.”

Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghafar said in a statement that two of the injured were discharged from a hospital while 12 others were still being treated.

Egypt Fire
People gather at the site of the fire (Mohamed Salah/AP)

The Interior Ministry said it received a report of the fire at 9 am local time, and that they found the blaze broke out in an air conditioner in the building’s second floor.

The ministry, which oversees police and firefighters, blamed an electrical short-circuit for the fire, which produced huge amounts of smoke. Meanwhile, the country’s chief prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation and a team of prosecutors were dispatched to the church.

Later on Sunday, emergency services said they managed to put out the blaze and the prime minister and other senior government officials arrived to inspect the site.

Egypt’s Christians account for some 10% of the nation’s more than 103 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 Egypt, 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.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

United Nations Nuclear Weapons

US and Japan seek UN resolution banning nuclear weapons in outer space

Election 2024 Trump

‘Impossible’ for Trump to post civil fraud bond of £356m, say lawyers

Georgia Election Indictment Lawmakers

Trump seeks to appeal against decision not to disqualify DA in Georgia case

Mike Lynch court case

Fallen tech star Mike Lynch painted as fraud mastermind in Hewlett-Packard trial

Russia Crimea

Putin extends rule in Russian election after harshest crackdown since Soviet era

Vacationing Mom Toddler Death

Ohio woman given life after child died when she left her alone to go on holiday

Transgender Athletes Ban New York Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner backs New York county’s ban on transgender female athletes

A Mayor Eric Adams standing on a stage in front of an audience engaging them with a speech

New York mayor Eric Adams accused of sexually assaulting woman in 1993

Biden Netanyahu

Netanyahu agrees to send officials to US to discuss prospective Rafah operation

Palestinians rush to collect the humanitarian aid airdropped into Gaza City, Gaza Strip on March 17 (Mohammed Hajjar/AP)

‘Famine imminent’ in northern Gaza as 70% face ‘catastrophic hunger’

Music-Country Hall of Fame

James Burton, John Anderson and Toby Keith join Country Music Hall of Fame

Russia Election

What the Russian election reveals about Putin’s rule

Obit-Stafford

Astronaut Thomas Stafford, commander of Apollo 10, dies aged 93

Montenegro US

US envoy visits Montenegro to support EU bid as war in Ukraine rages on

APTOPIX Haiti Violence

At least 12 killed as gangs unleash fresh attacks in Haiti’s capital

Vladimir Putin has addressed crowds in Moscow, telling them: 'All glory to Russia'

'All glory to Russia': Putin addresses crowds in Moscow after sham election victory