Egypt: dozens dead in the fire of a church in Cairo
A fire started during a mass in a church in a popular district of Cairo killed 41 people this Sunday, August 14, 2022. AP - Mohamed Salah
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A fire started this Sunday August 14 during a mass in a church in a popular district of Cairo killed 41 people, mourning the largest Christian community in the Middle East with 10 to 15 of the 103 million Egyptians.
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"
The air conditioner in a classroom on the second floor of the building where the church is located broke down and released a large amount of smoke, which was the main cause of injuries and deaths
," says the ministry of Interior.
The Abou Sifine church does not look like a church, says
Alexandre Buccianti,
our correspondent in Cairo.
Named after the saint Mercury of Caesarea revered by the Copts, it is stuck in a very narrow alley in the popular district of Imbaba.
Some 5,000 people gathered there on Sunday.
One of the fire engines working there cluttered almost the entire width of the street in this densely populated area of the left bank of the Nile.
The church is on the ground floor of a building, separated by just a few meters by a vis-à-vis, surmounted by a cross and also housing a center for social services, noted a photographer from the AFP on the spot.
Rescue mobilized quickly
The prosecution announced that it had opened an investigation and sent a team to the scene, while the Ministry of Health indicated that it had dispatched dozens of ambulances.
Because very quickly, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi announced that he had "
mobilized all state services so that all measures are taken
".
Mr. Sissi also announced that he had "
presented his condolences by telephone
" to Coptic Pope Tawadros II, head of the Christian community in Egypt since 2012.
Already on Monday August 8, a church had caught fire in Heliopolis, a wealthy district in the east of Cairo, without causing any deaths or injuries.
(and with agencies)
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Egypt
Religion
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi