Egyptian church fire kills at least 41, most of them children- sources

By Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Sayed Sheasha

CAIRO (Reuters) -{An electrical} fireplace swept via an Egyptian Coptic Christian church throughout Mass on Sunday, inflicting a stampede and killing at the least 41 folks, most of them youngsters and lots of affected by smoke inhalation.

The blaze began simply earlier than 9 a.m. within the Abu Sifin church within the metropolis of Giza the place about as much as 1,000 folks had gathered.

The fireplace blocked an entrance to the church, inflicting the stampede, the 2 sources mentioned, including that the majority of these killed had been youngsters.

“Folks had been gathering on the third and fourth ground, and we noticed smoke coming from the second ground. Folks rushed to go down the steps and began falling on prime of one another,” mentioned worshipper Yasir Munir.

“Then we heard a bang and sparks and fireplace popping out of the window,” he mentioned, saying he and his daughter had been on the bottom ground and in a position to escape.

Electrical fires are usually not uncommon in Egypt. In late 2020, a hearth at a hospital treating COVID-19 sufferers killed at the least seven folks.

In an announcement, the Inside Ministry mentioned a forensic examination confirmed that the fireplace started within the second ground air-con on account of {an electrical} malfunction.

Smoke inhalation was the principle reason behind loss of life, it mentioned. Households of those that died will obtain 100,000 Egyptian kilos ($5,220), in keeping with a cupboard assertion.

Giza, Egypt’s second-largest metropolis, lies simply throughout the Nile from Cairo.

“I provide my honest condolences to the households of the harmless victims which have handed on to be with their Lord in one in all his homes of worship,” mentioned Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a tweet.

Maher Murad mentioned he left his sister on the church after prayers.

“As quickly as I bought away from the church by solely 10 metres, I heard the sound of screaming and noticed thick smoke,” he mentioned.

“After the firefighters doused the fireplace, I recognised my sister’s physique. The our bodies had been all charred, and lots of of them are youngsters who had been in a nursery room within the church.”

“I don’t know if it was {an electrical} fireplace or what occurred, however there have been children and outdated folks, we saved whom we may save,” mentioned Kirollos, who was talking from a hospital the place he was being handled for accidents.

A funeral was held for these killed within the fireplace late on Sunday at a cemetery in Giza.

(Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Sayed SheashaWriting by Nafisa Eltahir and Michael GeorgyEditing by David Goodman, Raissa Kasolowsky and Nick Macfie)