Un fire triggered by a short circuit in the middle of a mass, in a church in a working-class district of Cairo, killed 41 people on Sunday, mourning the largest Christian community in the Middle East, which represents 10 to 15 of the 103 million Egyptians. “The air conditioner in a classroom on the second floor of the building where the church is located broke down and released a large amount of smoke, which was the main cause of injuries and deaths,” the ministry said. of the Egyptian Interior.
Dozens of ambulances were dispatched. The fire was later brought under control, authorities said. “The ambulances arrived after more than an hour […], fire trucks too when the barracks is less than five minutes away, ”denounces Mina Masry, a resident. The prosecution has announced that it has opened an investigation.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that he had “presented his condolences by telephone” to Coptic Pope Theodore II, who has led the Christian community in Egypt since 2012. Since then, the Coptic Orthodox Church has been more visible on the political scene, under the leadership of Theodore II, a proclaimed supporter of Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the first president of Egypt to attend the Coptic Christmas mass each year, while his predecessors sent representatives.
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Cairo, regularly plagued by fires
In the sprawling megalopolis of Cairo, where millions of Egyptians live in informal settlements, accidental fires are not uncommon. More generally, Egypt, endowed with dilapidated and poorly maintained infrastructure, regularly experiences deadly fires in its various provinces.
In March 2021, at least 20 people died in a fire at a textile factory in the eastern suburbs of Cairo. In 2020, two fires in hospitals claimed the lives of fourteen patients with Covid-19.
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Although numerous, the Copts consider themselves kept out of many positions in the public service and deplore very restrictive legislation for the construction of churches and much more liberal for mosques. The subject is sensitive and Coptic human rights activist Patrick Zaki recently spent 22 months in detention for “spreading false information” over an article exposing violations of Christian rights in Egypt.
Copts have suffered reprisals from Islamists, notably after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s 2013 overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, with churches, schools and homes set on fire. Abdel Fattah al-Sissi recently appointed a Coptic judge to head the Constitutional Court for the first time in history.
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