The cause of the fire, which caused huge amounts of smoke at Abu Sefein Church in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba, was not immediately known. According to a police statement, the initial investigation indicated an electrical short circuit. The Coptic Church reported the death toll, citing health officials. He said the fire broke out while a service was in progress on Sunday morning. 15 fire engines rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire, while ambulances transported the injured to nearby hospitals. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke by phone with Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to express his condolences, the president’s office said. People and police gather near the scene of Sunday’s deadly fire. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters) “I am closely following the developments of the tragic accident,” El Sisi wrote on Facebook. “I have instructed all concerned government agencies and bodies to take all necessary measures and immediately deal with this accident and its consequences.” The interior ministry said it received a report of the fire at 9 a.m. local time and found that the fire started in an air conditioner on the second floor of the building. The ministry, which oversees the police and fire department, blamed an electrical short circuit for the fire, which produced huge amounts of smoke. The country’s attorney general, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation and a team of prosecutors was sent to the church. Egypt’s Christians represent about 10 percent of the country’s 90 million people and have long complained of discrimination by the nation’s Muslim majority. Sunday’s fire was one of the worst in recent years in a country where safety standards and fire regulations are poorly enforced. In March last year, a fire at a clothing factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people and injured 24 others.
