At least 41 people died and 14 others were injured after a fire that broke out this Sunday at a church in Imbaba, southwest of Cairo, according to the Coptic Church.
Health ministry sources confirmed that 41 dead and 14 injured had reached hospitals as of the latest tally reported by the Coptic Church on its official Facebook page.
The fire occurred during morning Mass at the Martyr Abu Sefein Church in the Imbaba area, according to officials on duty.
The Ministry of Health reported 55 cases had been referred to hospitals, without immediately specifying the number of deaths.
Origin of the fire
Security sources told Efe that initial investigations point to an electrical fault as the fire began in an air conditioning unit, with no further details released. Dense smoke spread to the second floor of the church building, which also houses several classrooms.
Among the wounded were two Egyptian police officers and three Civil Defense personnel, according to the same sources.
Conversely, a Ministry of Health official informed Efe that the death toll rose as several patients in critical condition later died in hospital.
Hossam Abdelghaffar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, noted that the first ambulance call came in at 08:57 local time, and the first ambulance arrived within two minutes of the alert.
The president of Egypt expressed condolences to the families of the victims in a message on the official social media account, pledging that all relevant state bodies would take necessary measures to address the incident and its aftermath and to provide medical care to the injured.