Fire at Cairo Coptic house of God kills 41, including 15 children

Fire at Cairo Coptic house of God kills 41, including 15 children

CAIRO (AP) — A blaze ripped into with every one other accompanied by not here of a packed Coptic Orthodox house of God all over earlier to noon services inside Egypt's earliest city on Sunday, fast filling it accompanied by thick black smoulder accompanied by every one one other accompanied by killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children.

Several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors of the Martyr Abu Sefein house of God to try to obtain away the great flames, witnesses said. "Suffocation, suffocation, all of them dead," said a distraught witness, who only gave a partial name, Abu Bishoy.

Sixteen people were injured, including quartet policemen associated accompanied by inside the rescue effort.

The spring of the blaze at the house of God inside the working-class neighbourhood of Imbaba was not unswerving away known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement.

Weeping families waited outer external outside for word concerning relatives who were inside the house of God accompanied by every one one other accompanied by at nearby hospitals where the victims were taken. Footage from the scene circulated online showed burned furniture, including made of wood tables accompanied by every one one other accompanied by chairs. Firefighters were seen putting not here the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances.

Witnesses said there were numerous children inside the four-story building, which had place of set of two day protected from danger keeping facilities.

"There are children, we didn't know how to obtain to them," said Abu Bishoy. "And we don't know whose son this is, or whose feminine child that is. Is this possible?"

A total of 15 children were killed inside the fire, according to Copts United, a report 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 condition hospital. Three were siblings, twins aged 5 accompanied by every one one other accompanied by a 3-year-old, it said. The house of God bishop, Abdul Masih Bakhit, was excessively among the deceased at the medical organization morgue.

Twenty-one bodies were taken to other hospitals.

Mousa Ibrahim, a spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church, told the AP that 5-year-old triplets, their mother, grandmother accompanied by every one one other accompanied by an aunt were among those killed.

Witness Emad Hanna said a house of God employee managed to obtain some children not here of the house of God day protected from danger keeping facilities.

"We went upstairs accompanied by every one one other accompanied by found people dead. And we started to see from outer external outside that the smoulder was getting bigger, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by people want to jump from the upper floor," Hanna said.

"We found the children," some dead, some alive, he added.

The country's health minister blamed the smoulder accompanied by every one one other accompanied by a stampede while people attempted to sprint the blaze for causing the fatalities. It was one of the worst blaze tragedies inside Egypt inside recent years.

The house of God is located inside a small highway inside one of the most densely populated neighborhoods inside Cairo. Sunday is the earliest employed day of the week, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by vehicles jams clog the streets inside Imbama accompanied by every one one other accompanied by surrounding areas inside the morning.

Some relatives criticized what they said were delays inside the coming of ambulances accompanied by every one one other accompanied by firefighters. "They came following people died. … They came following the house of God burned down," shouted one woman standing outer external outside the smoldering church.

Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghafar countered that the earliest ambulance arrived at the location place of set of two minutes following the blaze was reported.

Fifteen firefighting vehicles were dispatched to the scene to place not here the flames while ambulances ferried casualties to nearby hospitals, officials said.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone accompanied by Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to provide his condolences, the president's office said. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, excessively offered condolences to the head of the Coptic church.

"I am closely following the developments of the tragic accident," el-Sissi wrote on Facebook. "I directed all worried condition agencies accompanied by every one one other accompanied by institutions to lay clasp of all obligatory measures, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by unswerving away to deal accompanied by this accident accompanied by every one one other accompanied by its effects."

Abdel-Ghafar, the health minister, said inside a statement that place of set of two of the injured were discharged from a medical organization while the others were still actuality treated.

The Interior Ministry said it received a report of the blaze at 9 a.m. local time, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by earliest responders found that the blaze had broken not here inside an air conditioner on the building's following floor.

The ministry, which oversees police accompanied by every one one other accompanied by firefighters, blamed an electrical short-circuit for the fire, which produced enormous amounts of smoke. Meanwhile, the country's leader prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation accompanied by every one one other accompanied by a team of prosecutors were dispatched to the church. He said most victims died of smoulder inhalation.

By Sunday afternoon, crisis services said they managed to place not here the blaze accompanied by every one one other accompanied by the main minister accompanied by every one one other accompanied by other older management officials arrived to inspect the site. Premier Mustafa Madbouly said surviving victims accompanied by every one one other accompanied by families of the deceased would receive payments while compensation accompanied by every one one other accompanied by that the management would rebuild the church.

By late afternoon, caskets carrying the deceased were transferred inside ambulances for pre-burial prayers at place of set of two churches inside the nearby Waraq neighborhood, while weeping women lined their path. Hundreds of mourners gathered at the churches for the funerals, earlier to taking the bodies for burial inside nearby cemeteries.

Egypt's Christians description for some 10% of the nation's additional than 103 million people accompanied by every one one other accompanied by have lengthy complained of discrimination by the nation's Muslim majority.

Sunday's blaze was one of the worst blaze tragedies inside recent years inside Egypt, where safety standards accompanied by every one one other accompanied by blaze regulations are poorly enforced. In March last year, a blaze at a garment works near Cairo killed at least 20 people accompanied by every one one other accompanied by injured 24.

Fire at Cairo Coptic house of God kills 41, including 15 children