VIDEO: Electrical fire kills over 40 in Cairo Coptic church
A woman reacts after a deadly fire broke out at the Abu Sifin Church, in Giza, Egypt, on Sunday. Reuters
The blaze, blamed on an electrical fault, hit the Abu Sifin church in densely populated Imbaba west of the Nile river, part of Giza governorate.
Witnesses described panicked scenes as people rushed into the multi-storey house of worship to rescue those trapped but were soon overwhelmed by the heat and deadly smoke.
"Everyone was carrying kids out of the building," said Ahmed Reda Baioumy, who lives next to the Church. "But the fire was getting bigger and you could only go in once or you would asphyxiate."
The Egyptian Coptic church and the health ministry reported 41 dead and 14 injured in the blaze before emergency services said they had brought the blaze under control.
President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi declared on his Facebook page in the morning: "I have mobilised all state services to ensure that all measures are taken."
He later said he had "presented his condolences by phone" to Pope Tawadros II, who has been the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church since 2012.
The Giza governor ordered "urgent aid of 50,000 pounds (around $2,600) for the families of the deceased and 10,000 pounds for the injured."
The grand imam of Al Azhar, Egypt's foremost Muslim institution, expressed his condolences for "the tragic accident" and affirmed "the readiness of Al-Azhar hospitals to receive the injured."
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The fire blocked an entrance to the church, causing a stampede, officials said, adding that most of those killed were children.
Power surge
The interior ministry said "forensic evidence revealed that the blaze broke out in an air-conditioning unit on the second floor of the church building" which also houses social services.
Father Farid Fahmy, of another nearby church in Imbaba, told AFP the fire was caused by a short circuit. "The power was out and they were using a generator," he said. "When the power came back, it caused an overload."
Accidental fires are not uncommon in the sprawling megalopolis of Cairo, where millions live in informal settlements.
Baioumy, the neighbour, told AFP that fire-fighters were hampered by the fact the Church is located "on a very narrow street" where buildings stand barely a few metres apart and fire engines can barely manoeuvre.
Giza, Egypt's second-largest city, lies just across the Nile from Cairo.
Fifteen firefighting vehicles were dispatched to the scene to put out the flames while ambulances ferried the casualties to nearby hospitals.
Agencies
