By Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, CAIRO
Egypt
An electrical fire swept through an Egyptian Coptic Christian church during Mass on Sunday, causing a stampede and killing at least 41 people, most of them children and many suffering from smoke inhalation.
The blaze started just before
9 a.m. in the Abu Sifin church in the city of Giza where about up to 1,000
people had gathered.
The fire blocked an entrance
to the church, causing the stampede, the two sources said, adding that most of
those killed were children.
"People were gathering on
the third and fourth floor, and we saw smoke coming from the second floor.
People rushed to go down the stairs and started falling on top of each
other," said worshipper Yasir Munir.
"Then we heard a bang and
sparks and fire coming out of the window," he said, saying he and his
daughter were on the ground floor and able to escape.
Electrical fires are not rare
in Egypt. In late 2020, a fire at a hospital treating COVID-19 patients killed
at least seven people.
In a statement, the Interior
Ministry said a forensic examination showed that the fire began in the second
floor air conditioning as a result of an electrical malfunction.
Smoke inhalation was the main
cause of death, it said. Families of those who died will receive 100,000
Egyptian pounds ($5,220), according to a cabinet statement.
Giza, Egypt's second-largest
city, lies just across the Nile from Cairo.
"I offer my sincere
condolences to the families of the innocent victims that have passed on to be
with their Lord in one of his houses of worship," said Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a tweet.
Maher Murad said he left his
sister at the church after prayers.
"As soon as I got away
from the church by only 10 metres, I heard the sound of screaming and saw thick
smoke," he said.
"After the firefighters
doused the fire, I recognised my sister's body. The bodies were all charred,
and many of them are children who were in a nursery room in the church."
"I don’t know if it was
an electrical fire or what happened, but there were kids and old people, we
saved whom we could save," said Kirollos, who was speaking from a hospital
where he was being treated for injuries.
A funeral was held for those
killed in the fire late on Sunday at a cemetery in Giza.
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