The fire in a church in Cairo this Sunday caused more than 40 deaths and a dozen and a half injuries. Photo: AP
A fire in a church in the Imbaba neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, this Sunday triggered a tragedy: at least 41 people died and another 14 were injured..
The fire would have originated from a malfunction of an air conditioner on the second floor of the room, while a mass was in progress with hundreds of faithful.
“The sources of the Ministry of Health say that the dead are so far 41, while the injured are 14,” the Coptic Church said in a statement published on its official Facebook account.
“A great fire occurred in the church of El Mártir Abu Sefein in the Imbaba area during this morning’s mass”, reads the note from the ecclesiastical institute, citing sources from the Ministry of Health.
Emotion in Cairo for the death of just over 40 people after a violent fire broke out in a church. Photo: AP
Security sources indicated that, according to initial investigations, the fire was caused by a electrical failure in an air conditioner of the second floor of the church building, which includes several classrooms. The electrical failure caused the emission of a dense amount of smoke which was the main cause of death of a large number of faithful who were attending the morning mass.
The fire in a church in Egypt resulted in at least 41 deaths. Photo: Twitter
Among the dead, according to a security source, is the priest of the Abu Sefein church, Abdel Masih, whose body was transferred to the hospital in Aguza.
It has been indicated that among the wounded there are two Egyptian officers and three members of the Civil Protection, who intervened after the tragedy unleashed in the place.
The violent fire that triggered the tragedy occurred in the popular neighborhood of Imbaba, a place that has a large number of believers from the Christian community:
Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdelgaffar said in a statement that the first ambulance call was made at 8:57 am (local time) and that the first came just two minutes after the alert.
The fire that broke out in a church in Cairo would have originated from an electrical fault in an air conditioner. Photo: AP
Egyptian President Abdelfatah al Sisi expressed condolences to the families of the “innocent” victims in a note posted on his official Facebook account.
“I closely follow the developments of the tragic accident in the church … and have ordered all relevant state agencies and institutions to take all necessary measures, and to deal immediately with this accident and its effects, and to provide all treatment doctors to the wounded, “said the Egyptian president.
Intervention of justice
A few hours after the outbreak of the tragedy, the Egyptian Prosecutor’s Office ordered an investigation into the causes of the fire in the Coptic church in Cairo.
“The Attorney General ordered the formation of a large investigative team to investigate the fire incident at the Imbaba church, which immediately moved to inspect it and initiate investigation proceedings,” the Egyptian prosecutor said in a brief statement. on its official website. .
With information from Agencies
Source: Clarin
