According to the Egyptian Interior Ministry, the accident was caused by a faulty air conditioning system on the second floor of the building where the church is located. The church’s priest, Father Abdel-Messi Bechit, also died in the fire. 14 people were injured.
Eyewitnesses described how residents of the densely populated district of Imbaba rushed to the church. “Everyone took children out of the building,” said Ahmed Reda Baijumy. But the fire grew stronger and stronger, so that those who returned could not enter again.
Firefighters later managed to bring the fire under control, officials said. One of the fire engines on duty clogged almost the entire width of the road in the densely populated area on the left bank of the Nile. The church is on the ground floor of a building that also houses a community service center.
Father Farid Fahmi of the nearby Mar Jemina Church said the fire started after a power outage: “The electricity went out and they were using a generator,” he said. “When the power came back on, there was an overload.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on his Facebook page that he had mobilized all government agencies to take the necessary measures. Later, al-Sisi explained that he had “expressed his condolences over the phone” to the head of the Coptic Church, Tawadros II.
The Grand Imam of Al-Ashar Institute, Egypt’s most important Islamic institution, expressed his condolences for the “tragic accident” and declared the “readiness of Al-Ashar hospitals to receive the wounded”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed his “sincere condolences” to the victims’ families in a statement from his office. Fires are not uncommon in the metropolis of Cairo. Last Monday, a church caught fire in the wealthy neighborhood of Heliopolis, east of Cairo.
About 10 to 15 million of the 103 million Egyptians are of the Coptic faith. Copts are the largest Christian community in the Middle East. Although they are numerous, Copts feel excluded from many positions and criticize, for example, that the laws for the construction of churches are much stricter than for the construction of mosques.
Al-Sisi is the first Egyptian president to attend the Coptic Christmas Mass each year. He recently appointed a Coptic judge to head the Constitutional Court for the first time in the country’s history.
Since then, the government of Egypt has promised financial aid to the bereaved. The victims’ families will receive the equivalent of a good 5,000 euros, as Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity announced on Monday. The people who were injured in the disaster will each receive a good 1,000 euros. In addition, the authority granted psychological help to all affected families.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry also reacted to the accident on Sunday: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic fire at Abu Sifin Church in Giza, in which several dozen people, including children, died. Our sincere condolences go out to the people of Egypt and those who have lost loved ones. We wish all the injured a speedy recovery,” the statement said on Twitter.