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Children were among dozens of worshipers killed Sunday when a fire engulfed a Coptic church in Cairo, according to reports.
A fire tore through Abu Sefein Church in the densely populated Imbaba district, killing at least 41 people and injuring at least 14 others, the Coptic Church of Egypt said, citing casualty reports from health officials.
Two security sources told Reuters that 5,000 worshipers had gathered in the church when the fire broke out and blocked the entrance, sparking a stampede.
Sources say that most of those killed were children.
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Security personnel stand at the scene of a deadly fire at the Abu Sifin Church in Cairo’s Imbaba district on Sunday.
(Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghani)
The cause of the fire was not known. Police said an initial investigation blamed an electrical short circuit.
More than a dozen fire trucks extinguished the fire, and ambulances took the injured to nearby hospitals.
People and police officers stand near the scene of a deadly fire at the Abu Sifin Church in Cairo’s Imbaba district on Sunday.
(Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghani)
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President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke by phone with Coptic Pope Tawadras II to express his condolences, the president’s office said.
“I am closely following the development of the tragic event,” El-Sisi wrote on Facebook. “I have instructed all concerned government agencies and institutions to take all necessary measures and immediately deal with the elimination of this accident and its consequences.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
