Egypt church fire kills at least 41

At least 41 people were killed and 45 injured in a fire inside a church in the Egyptian city of Giza on Sunday, two security sources told Reuters.

The electrical fire started when 5,000 worshipers gathered for mass at Abu Sifin Church in the Imbaba neighborhood, causing a panicked flight, the sources said.

“People were gathering on the third and fourth floors, and we saw smoke coming from the second floor. People ran down the stairs and started falling on each other,” said Yasir Munir, a member of the church.

“Then we heard a bang, sparks and fire coming out of the window,” Munir said, adding that he and his daughter were on the ground floor and managed to escape.

Electrical fires of this type are not a rare occurrence in Egypt; in late 2020, a fire at a hospital treating COVID-19 patients killed at least seven people and injured several others.

“I offer my sincere condolences to the families of the innocent victims who passed by to be with their Lord at one of his houses of worship,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a tweet.

Maher Murad said he left his sister at the church after prayers.

“As I walked away from the church by just 10 meters, I heard the sound of screaming and saw thick smoke,” he said.

“After the fireman put out the fire, I recognized my sister’s body. The bodies are all charred, and many of them are children, who were in a church daycare.”

Giza, Egypt’s second largest city, is across the Nile from Cairo.