Cairo: At the very least 41 folks have been killed and 45 injured in a fireplace inside a church within the Egyptian metropolis of Giza on Sunday, two safety sources advised Reuters.

{An electrical} hearth broke out simply earlier than 9am throughout Mass as 5,000 folks gathered on the Coptic Abu Sifin church within the Imbaba neighbourhood, the sources stated.

The fireplace blocked an entrance to the church, inflicting a stampede, they stated, including that the majority of these killed have been kids.

“Individuals have been gathering on the third and fourth ground, and we noticed smoke coming from the second ground. Individuals rushed to go down the steps and stared falling on prime of one another,” stated Yasir Munir, a worshipper on the church.

“Then we heard a bang and sparks and hearth popping out of the window,” he stated, saying he and his daughter have been on the bottom ground and capable of escape.

Electrical fires of this sort are usually not a uncommon prevalence in Egypt; in late 2020, a fireplace at a hospital treating COVID-19 sufferers killed not less than seven folks and injured a number of others.

Giza, Egypt’s second-largest metropolis, lies simply throughout the Nile from Cairo.

“I supply my honest condolences to the households of the harmless victims which have handed on to be with their Lord in one in every of his homes of worship,” stated Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a tweet.