Dozens killed in fire at Coptic church in Egypt

CAIRO—A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital on Sunday, quickly filling it with thick black smoke and killing 41 worshipers, including at least 15 children.

Several trapped congregants jumped from upper floor soft he Martyr Abu Sefein church to try to escape the intense f lames, witnesses said.

“Suffocation, suffocation, all of them dead,” said Abu Bishoy, a distraught witness who gave only a partial name.

Sixteen people were injured, including four policemen involved in the rescue effort.

The cause of the blaze at the church in the workingclass neighborhood of Imbaba was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short- circuit, according to a police statement.

Weeping families waited outside for word about relatives who were inside the church and at nearby hospitals where the victims were taken. Footage from the scene circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs. Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances.

Witnesses said there were many children inside the four- story building, which had two day- care facilities.

“There are children, we didn’t know how to get to them,” Abu Bishoy said. “And we don’t know whose son this is, or whose daughter that is. Is this possible?”

A total of 15 children were killed in the fire, according to Copts United, a news website focusing on Christian news.

A list of victims obtained by the Associated Press said 20 bodies, including 10 children, were taken to the Imbaba public hospital. Three were siblings, twins aged 5 and a 3- year- old, it said.

The church bishop, Abdul Masih Bakhit, was also among the dead at the hospital morgue.

Twenty- one bodies were taken to other hospitals.

Mousa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, said 5year- old triplets, their mother, grandmother and an aunt were among those killed.

The country’s health minister blamed the smoke and a stampede as people attempted to f lee the f ire for causing the fatalities. It was one of the worst f ire tragedies in Egypt in recent years.

Christians account for some 10% of Egypt’s more than 103 million people and have long complained of discrimination by the nation’s Muslim majority.