A fire that broke out Sunday at the height of mass in a church in a popular Cairo neighborhood killed 41 people, mourning the largest Christian community in the Middle East with 10 to 15 of the 103 million Egyptians.
The Egyptian Coptic Church reported “41 dead and 14 injured” citing “sources from the Ministry of Health”, in a statement posted on its Facebook account.
This fire, whose origin is yet to be determined, has been controlled, according to the authorities. It happened in the church of Abou Sifine, in the popular neighborhood of Imbaba, which bears the name of San Mercurio de Cesarea, venerated by the Copts.
“I have mobilized all state services to ensure that all measures are taken,” President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi immediately reacted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
An open investigation
The prosecutor’s office announced that it has opened an investigation and sent a team to the scene to establish the reasons for the start of the fire, while the Ministry of Health indicated that it has sent dozens of ambulances.
Abdel Fattah al-Sissi also announced that he had “presented his condolences by telephone” to Coptic Pope Tawadros II, leader of the Christian community in Egypt since 2012.
Since then, the Coptic Orthodox Church has shown itself more on the political stage, under the leadership of Tawadros II, an outspoken supporter of Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the first president of Egypt to attend the Coptic Christmas Mass each year, while that their predecessors sent representatives.
Regular deadly fires
In the sprawling megalopolis of Cairo, where millions of Egyptians live in informal settlements, accidental fires are not uncommon. More broadly, Egypt, endowed with dilapidated and poorly maintained infrastructure, regularly experiences deadly fires in its various provinces.
In March 2021, at least 20 people died in a fire at a textile factory in the eastern suburbs of Cairo. In 2020, two hospital fires claimed the lives of fourteen Covid-19 patients.
Although numerous, Copts consider themselves excluded from many civil service positions and deplore very restrictive legislation for the construction of churches and much more liberal for mosques.
The issue is sensitive and Coptic human rights activist Patrick Zaki recently spent 22 months in detention for “spreading false information” about an article alleging violations of the rights of Christians in Egypt.
Copts have suffered reprisals from Islamists, particularly after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, with churches, schools and homes set on fire. Abdel Fattah al-Sissi recently appointed a Coptic judge to preside over the Constitutional Court for the first time in history.
Source: BFM TV
