Giza church fire

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Giza church fire
Giza church fire
Date14 August 2022
VenueAbu Sefein Church, Giza, Egypt
LocationGiza, Egypt
Coordinates 30°04′30″N31°11′13″E / 30.07500°N 31.18694°E / 30.07500; 31.18694
Type Fire
Cause Short circuit
Deaths41
Non-fatal injuries45

On 14 August 2022, a fire broke out at the Abu Sefein Church, a Coptic Christian Orthodox church in the Imbaba neighborhood of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. The fire started during Sunday worship services when nearly 5,000 worshippers were gathered. [1] [2] [3] The fire, which investigations found started due to a faulty air-conditioning unit, spread to a nursery the church hosted, killing 41 people in total throughout the complex, including at least 18 children. [4] [5] [2] One of the church's priests, Abdul Masih Bakhit, was among those who died in the fire. [6]

Contents

Background

The church is named for Saint Mercurius, known in Arabic and among the worshippers as 'Abu Sefein', [7] and it is one of the largest churches in Giza. Egyptian law strictly regulates construction in churches, historically requiring a presidential decree to gain a building permit. [8] Due to the difficulty in gaining approval for projects, unauthorized construction is widespread, often without following fire safety regulations. It had initially been converted[ when? ] into a church without a permit, though it was retroactively legalized. [9]

Electrical fires occur often in Egypt, where building and inspection standards are inadequate and poorly enforced. [10] [2] Multiple fires have occurred in public areas throughout Egypt, including the 2002 El Ayyat railway fire which resulted in 370 deaths; a 2020 hospital fire that killed seven patients; and the 2021 Cairo clothing factory fire that resulted in 20 deaths. [9]

Fire

The Ministry of Interior said that the fire was caused by a faulty air-conditioning unit on the second floor of the church. According to the Ministry of Health most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation or being trampled in the stampede to escape the building. [9] The church hosts a nursery in its fourth floor. [11] A neighboring church's priest said that children were taken to higher floors to escape the blaze instead of being evacuated. [9] Eyewitnesses reported that people attempted to jump to safety from the upper floors to escape the fire. [6] [1]

The response time of firefighters to this incident is not clear. The Health Ministry said the first fire truck arrived two minutes after the first reports of a fire were received, [6] however, relatives of those trapped in the church said that paramedics and firefighters were slow in reaching the site, and one witness said it took two hours for a fire truck to arrive. [9] Bystanders reportedly rushed into the church to help evacuate those trapped until the fire's intensity and smoke became too overwhelming. [1] Eyewitnesses reported that the fire began at 8:00 am and lasted for two hours. [12]

Victims

The fire resulted in 41 deaths and 45 non-fatal injuries. [1] [4] Security services reported that at least 18 of the deceased were children. [4] [5] [1] [13] One local hospital's records showed 20 bodies received, among them 10 children, while another local hospital received 21 bodies. [6]

Investigation

The fire's death toll was among the largest in Egypt's recent history, and the country's top prosecutor ordered an investigation into the blaze. [6] [9] While Egypt's Copts have faced discrimination, attacks, and religious violence, both the church authorities and the Egyptian state agencies believe the fire to be accidental. [4] [14]

Response

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a statement expressing his regret, saying, "I offer my sincere condolences to the families of the innocent victims that have passed on to be with their Lord in one of his houses of worship," [2] [4] Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that each deceased person's family would be given 100,000 Egyptian pounds in compensation, while those injured would be given up to 20,000 Egyptian pounds, and the Minister of Social Solidarity further announced that al-Azhar Mosque and other civil society groups would be offering an additional 50,000 Egyptian pounds to the victims and their families. [15]

Al-Azhar Mosque expressed its condolences, and the grand imam of al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb offered his sympathy to the Coptic pope Tawadros II. [15] Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egypt national football team, also tweeted his condolences, [4] and made a donation of three million Egyptian pounds to help rebuild the church. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairo</span> Capital city of Egypt

Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East, the Greater Cairo metropolitan area, which is the 12th-largest in the world by population with a population of over 22.1 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giza</span> City in Greater Cairo, Egypt

Giza is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 4,872,448 in the 2017 census. It is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite central Cairo, and is a part of the Greater Cairo metropolis. Giza lies less than 30 km (18.64 mi) north of Memphis, which was the capital city of the unified Egyptian state during the reign of pharaoh Narmer, roughly 3100 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria</span> Head of the Coptic Church from 1971 to 2012

Pope Shenouda III was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His papacy lasted 40 years, 4 months, and 4 days, from 14 November 1971 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral</span> Church in Cairo, Egypt

St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is a Coptic church located in the Abbassia District in Cairo, Egypt. The cathedral is the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope. It was built during the time when Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria was Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and was consecrated on 25 June 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imbaba</span> Place in Giza Governorate, Egypt

Imbaba is a working-class neighbourhood in northern Giza, Egypt, located west of the Nile and northwest of and near Gezira Island and downtown Cairo, within the Giza Governorate. The district is located in the historic upper Nile Delta, and is part of the Greater Cairo metropolitan area. Imbaba is the most densely populated city subdivision in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Copts</span>

The persecution of Copts and discrimination against Coptic Orthodox Christians are historic and widespread issues in Egypt. Their treatment is indicative of the poor status of Christians in the Middle East more widely, despite the fact that the religion is native to the Middle East, and that Christianity in Egypt dates back to the Roman era. Copts are the indigenous Christians in Egypt, usually Oriental Orthodox, who currently make up 10% of the population—the largest religious minority of that country. Copts have cited instances of persecution throughout their history and Human Rights Watch has noted "growing religious intolerance" and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, as well as a failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible. However, as political violence is common many churches believe that the attacks against the church are not religious statements, instead political statements. Since 2011, hundreds of Egyptian Copts have been killed in sectarian clashes, and many homes, churches and businesses have been destroyed. In just one province (Minya), 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between 2011 and 2016 have been documented by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. The abduction and disappearance of Coptic Christian women and girls also remains a serious ongoing problem.

The Nag Hammadi massacre was a massacre of Coptic Christians carried out on the eve of 7 January 2010, in the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. The massacre occurred at the hands of Muslim gunmen in front of the Nag Hammadi cathedral, as Coptic Christians were leaving the church after celebrating the midnight Christmas Divine Liturgy. The massacre resulted in the murder of eight Copts and one Muslim bystander. Nine other Copts were confirmed to be wounded, and two Muslims were reportedly wounded in the attack. Egypt's Interior Ministry said it suspected the attack was motivated by the alleged rape by a Christian of a Muslim girl.

The 2011 Alexandria bombing was an attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, on Saturday, 1 January 2011. 23 people died and another 97 were injured as a result of the attack, which occurred as Christian worshipers were leaving a New Year service. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against Egypt's Coptic Christians in a decade, since the Kosheh massacre in 2000 left 20 Copts dead. The target of the bombing was the Saints Church, a Coptic church located across the street from the Masjid Sharq El-Madina mosque.

The 2011 Imbaba church attacks were a series of attacks that took place in Egypt on 7 May 2011 against Coptic Christian churches in the poor working-class neighborhood of Imbaba in Giza, near Cairo. The attacks were blamed on Salafi Muslims, and the attacks began when the Muslims attacked the Coptic Orthodox church of Saint Mina, where they alleged a Christian woman was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam. The attacks resulted in the burning of 3 Coptic Orthodox churches, and the destruction of many Christian-owned houses and businesses. In addition, 15 people were killed in the attacks, and about 232 injured. Among those killed were four Christians and six Muslims, while two other bodies were still unidentified. Imbaba has been known to be a stronghold of Muslim fundamentalists since the 1970s, but also comprises a significant number of Coptic Christians.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Cairo, Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botroseya Church bombing</span> Suicide bombing on 11 December 2016 inside a Coptic church in Cairo, Egypt

On 11 December 2016, a suicide bomber killed 29 people and injured 47 others at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, a chapel next to Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope, in Cairo's Abbasia district. Egypt's President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi identified the bomber as 22-year-old Mahmoud Shafiq Mohammed Mustafa, who had worn a suicide vest. el-Sisi reported that three men and a woman have been arrested in connection with the attack; two others are being sought. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Palm Sunday, 9 April 2017, twin suicide bombings took place at St. George's Church in the northern Egyptian city of Tanta on the Nile delta, and Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the principal church in Alexandria, seat of the Coptic papacy. At least 43 people were reported killed and 789 injured. The attacks were carried out by a security detachment of ISIS.

On 26 May 2017, masked gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying Copts from Maghagha in Egypt's Minya Governorate to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor, killing at least 33 people and injuring 22 others.

At 1:50 PM EET on 24 November 2017, the al-Rawda mosque was attacked by roughly 40 gunmen during Friday prayers. The mosque is located in the village of Al-Rawda east of the town of Bir al-Abed in Egypt's North Sinai Governorate. It is one of the main mosques associated with the Jaririya Sufi order, one of the largest Sufi orders in North Sinai. The Jaririya order is named for its founder, Sheikh Eid Abu Jarir, who was a member of the Sawarka tribe and the Jarira clan. The Jarira clan resides in the vicinity of Bir al-Abed. The attack killed 311 people and injured at least 128, making it the deadliest attack in Egyptian history. It was the second-deadliest terrorist attack of 2017, after the Mogadishu bombings on 14 October. The attack was universally condemned by many world leaders and organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Cairo</span> Overview of and topical guide to Cairo

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cairo:

On 2 November 2018, masked gunmen opened fire on a group of Egyptian Christians travelling by bus through Minya. There was a convoy of three vehicles and two of them managed to escape. The vehicles were carrying Copts traveling from Sohag Governorate and Minya Governorate in Egypt to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor. At least 7 people from Minya were killed while 12 others were injured. A similar attack near the same place had happened in 2017.

The Rafah terror attack was a terrorist attack conducted by the Islamic State – Sinai Province on an Egyptian Armed Forces checkpoint in Rafah in North Sinai on 7 July 2017 and resulted in the death and injury of 23 Egyptian soldiers, including the high-ranking El-Sa'ka officer, Col. Ahmed Mansi. 46 terrorists were killed and six cars of the militants were destroyed in the attack.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 McKernan, Bethan (14 August 2022). "At least 41 people killed in Egypt church fire, say officials". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "At least 41 killed in Egyptian church fire, security sources say". Reuters. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "At least 41 killed in Egyptian church fire: Officials". Al Jazeera English. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Salem, Mostafa; Kourdi, Eyad; Engels, Jorge; Humayun, Hira (14 August 2022). "Children among dozens killed in Egypt church fire". CNN. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 "41 dead, 12 injured in Church of Abu Sefein blaze in Imbaba". Daily News Egypt. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Magdy, Samy (14 August 2022). "Officials: Fire at Coptic church in Cairo kills 41, hurts 14". The Washington Post . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Wimmer, AC (14 August 2022). "Reports of at least 40 people killed in church fire in Egypt". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Egypt 'legalizes' over 1,100 churches built without permits - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rashwan, Nada; Ward, Euan; Stack, Liam; Joseph, Yonette (14 August 2022). "A Boom, a Fire and a Stampede: Dozens Die at a Coptic Church in Egypt" . The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "A fire at a church in Cairo kills 41 people and hurts 14 others". NPR . Associated Press. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  11. ↑ El-Fekki, Amira; Deng, Chao (14 August 2022). "Fire Kills at Least 41 at Egyptian Coptic Church, Nursery". WSJ. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  12. ↑ السيد, مصطفى (14 August 2022). "شهود عيان كنيسة أبو سيفين بإمبابة: "الحريق بدأ 8 صباحًا واستمر ساعتين" (بث مباشر)" [Eyewitnesses, Abu Sefein Church in Imbaba: "The fire started 8 am and lasted two hours" (Live broadcast)]. Al-Masry al-Youm. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Violetta Baran (14 August 2022), "Tragedia w Gizie. W pożarze kościoła zginęło 41 osób" [The tragedy in Giza. 41 people died in a church fire], wp.pl (in Polish), Wirtualna Polska, archived from the original on 14 August 2022, retrieved 14 August 2022
  14. ↑ El-Fekki, Amira; Deng, Chao (14 August 2022). "Fire Kills at Least 41 at Egyptian Coptic Church, Nursery". WSJ. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Al-Azhar, state bodies extend condolences over Giza church fire; psychological support teams for injured dispatched – Society". Ahram Online. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Mohamed Salah donates 156,000 dollars to rebuild Abu Sefein Church". Egypt Today . 17 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
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