Egypt’s health ministry said 14 people were also taken to hospitals for treatment after being injured in the fire, which engulfed the Coptic Orthodox church of Abou Seifain in the working-class district of Imbaba, which is in the greater Cairo province of Giza. The fire broke out at 9 a.m. Cairo time. People and police officers stand near the scene of a deadly fire at the Coptic Orthodox Church of Abou Seifain in Giza, Egypt, on August 14, 2022. Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters The interior ministry, which oversees the Civil Protection Authority, said the fire “broke out in an air conditioner on the second floor of the church building, which includes a number of classrooms, as a result of an electrical fault”. The ministry, which said the fire was under control, attributed the deaths to smoke inhalation. He said five police officers were injured. The health ministry said the subsequent outbreak also contributed to the deaths. Horrific images and videos online showed people who appeared to be injured by the flames screaming in pain. Eyewitnesses said there may have been a large number of children among the victims. A view of the damage to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Abou Seifain, where a deadly fire broke out in Giza, Egypt, on August 14, 2022. Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters Stories of those who braved the flames to save the children were highlighted by local media. A list of the names of the victims, released by a member of parliament representing Ibaba, showed that an entire family had perished in the fire. “I am closely monitoring the developments of the tragic accident … and have instructed all relevant government agencies to take all necessary measures and immediately deal with this incident and its consequences and provide all aspects of health care to the injured.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Facebook. Sisi had also ordered the army’s engineering authority to carry out the process of restoring the damaged church building, the state news agency reported. The fire marks one of the worst tragedies in recent years to hit Egypt’s Christian community, which makes up about 10 percent of the country’s population. In 2017, two suicide bombings at churches in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tada killed more than 40 people. A few months later, gunmen killed nine worshipers in a church south of Cairo. An original version of this article included an incorrect number of people who were hospitalized. The story has been corrected.
