AFP<\/a>.<\/p>\n“But the fire was getting bigger and you could only go in once or you would asphyxiate.”<\/p>\n
The Egyptian Coptic Church and the health ministry reported 41 dead and 14 injured in the blaze before emergency services said they had brought the blaze under control.<\/p>\n
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared on his Facebook page in the morning: “I have mobilised all state services to ensure that all measures are taken.”<\/p>\n
He later said he had “presented his condolences by phone” to Coptic Pope Tawadros II, who has been the head of the denomination in Egypt since 2012.<\/p>\n
The interior ministry later said that “forensic evidence revealed that the blaze broke out in an air-conditioning unit on the second floor of the church building”.<\/p>\n
Father Farid Fahmy, of another nearby church in Imbaba, told AFP the fire was caused by a short circuit.<\/p>\n
“The power was out and they were using a generator,” he said. “When the power came back, it caused an overload.”<\/p>\n
The church quickly filled with thick black smoke, and witnesses said several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors to escape. \u201cSuffocation, suffocation, all of them dead,\u201d said a distraught witness, Abu Bishoy.<\/p>\n
Footage from the scene circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs. Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances. Families waited for word from relatives who were inside the church.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s health minister blamed the smoke and a stampede as people attempted to flee the fire for causing the fatalities.<\/p>\n
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone with the Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences, the president\u2019s office said. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Al-Azhar\u2019s Grand Imam, also offered his condolences to the head of the Coptic church.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am closely following the developments of the tragic accident,\u201d el-Sissi wrote on Facebook. \u201cI directed all concerned state agencies and institutions to take all necessary measures, and immediately to deal with this accident and its effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghafar said in a statement that two of the injured were discharged from a hospital while 12 others were still being treated.<\/p>\n
The Interior Ministry said it received a report on the fire at 9 a.m. local time, and that they found that the blaze broke out in an air conditioner on the building’s second floor.<\/p>\n
The ministry, which oversees police and firefighters, blamed an electrical short-circuit for the fire, which produced huge amounts of smoke. Meanwhile, the country\u2019s chief prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation and a team of prosecutors was dispatched to the church.<\/p>\n
Emergency personnel work at the site of a fire at the Abu Sefein church.\u00a0 Later on Sunday, emergency services said they managed to put out the blaze and the prime minister and other senior government officials arrived to inspect the site.<\/p>\n
Sunday’s blaze was one of the worst fire tragedies in recent years in Egypt, where safety standards and fire regulations are poorly enforced. In March last year, a fire at a garment factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people and injured 24 more.<\/p>\n
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