Cairo church fire kills 41

A fire that broke out on Sunday in the middle of a mass in a church in a popular district of Cairo killed 41 people, mourning the largest Christian community in the Middle East with 10 to 15 of the 103 million Egyptians . The Egyptian Coptic Church reported “41 dead and 14 injured” citing “sources within the Ministry of Health”, in a statement posted on its Facebook account. This fire, the origin of which remains to be determined, has been brought under control, according to the authorities. It happened at the Abou Sifine church in the popular district of Imbaba, named after Saint Mercury of Caesarea, revered by the Copts.

An open investigation

“I have mobilized all state services to ensure that all measures are taken,” President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi immediately reacted on his Facebook account. The prosecution announced that it had opened an investigation and sent a team to the site to establish the reasons for the start of the fire, while the Ministry of Health indicated that it had dispatched dozens of ambulances. Mr. Sissi also announced that he had “presented his condolences by telephone” to Coptic Pope Tawadros II, head of the Christian community in Egypt since 2012.

Since then, the Coptic Orthodox Church has displayed itself more on the political scene, under the leadership of Tawadros II, a proclaimed supporter of Mr. Sisi, the first president of Egypt to attend the Coptic Christmas mass each year while his predecessors sent representatives. 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.

Numerous fires in Egypt, due to dilapidated infrastructure

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. 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 Mr Sisi’s 2013 overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, with churches, schools and homes set on fire. Mr. Sissi recently appointed for the first time in history a Coptic judge to head the Constitutional Court.