The fire killed 41 people, including 15 children, and injured 16 others.

Preliminary investigations after the incident attributed the fire to an electrical short circuit.

A report by the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorate of Forensic Evidence Investigation said the fire broke out due to a wiring fault in the generator, the prosecution said in a statement on Thursday, noting that the generator's electrical connections were installed five years ago.

The prosecution said it spoke with 33 witnesses, including 16 injured, including some who affirmed that they heard the sound of electrical waves as the generator switched on after a power cut in the church. The fire broke out after the power returned, the witnesses said.

The church’s priest, Abdel-Messih Bakhit, was among the victims.

The incident has brought condolences from across the world.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's top religious institution, extended condolences to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The state has allocated an immediate compensation of EGP 100,000 to each of the families of the deceased and up to EGP 20,000 to the families of the injured based on the degree of the injury.