Sisi orders army to revamp Abu Sefein church

Ahram Online , Sunday 14 Aug 2022

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has directed the Armed Forces Engineering Authority to revamp and repair Giza's Abu Sefein Coptic Church after a massive fire that broke out earlier Sunday, the spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church announced.

Cairo
Charred furniture, including wooden tables and chairs, and religious imagery are seen at the site of a fire inside the Abu Sefein Coptic church that killed at least 40 people and injured some 14 others, in the densely populated neighborhood of Imbaba, Cairo Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. AGP

 

Chairman of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Hesham El Swefy informed Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria in a phone call about Sisi's instructions to reconstruct the burnt church, the spokesman said in a statement.

El- Swefy offered his condolences to Tawadros over the incident's victims.

The blaze began at 8:57 am in the Giza's church, located Imbaba district, during the Divine Liturgy, leaving 41 people dead and 16 injured.

All victims have been transferred to Imbaba General Hospital and Al-Agouza Hospital for treatment.

The country's public prosecution is investigating the tragic accident. Eyewitnesses told the investigators that the accident resulted from an electrical short circuit in a power generator.

The Egyptian Red Crescent has also dispatched two psychological support teams to the two hospitals, where victims of the fire are receiving treatment, to help them get over the tragic event.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, state bodies, and Al-Azhar extend their condolences to the victims' families.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly visited the victims receiving medical treatment in the two hospitals accompanied by Minister of Health Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj, and Minister of Local Development Hisham Amna.

In TV remarks, Madbouly said immediate compensation worth EGP 100,000 will be granted to each of the families of each deceased person, and up to EGP 20,000 will be granted to the families of the injured based on the degree of the injury.

Also, Egypt’s top Islamic authority Al-Azhar and civil society organisations will pay additional compensation of EGP 50,000 to the families of the victims, El-Qabbaj said earlier.

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