The fire-damaged Abu Sefein Church to be fixed

• Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has charged the Armed Forces Engineering Authority with restoring the Abu Sefein church.
• The authority’s chief, Hisham El-Swefy, called Pope Tawadros II to advise him of the plot.
• A fire at the church on Sunday killed 41 people and injured 16.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has charged the Armed Forces Engineering Authority with restoring the Abu Sefein church, which was devastated by a fire on Sunday that killed 41 people and injured 16.

The authority’s chief, Hisham El-Swefy, called Pope Tawadros II to advise him of the plot.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, has rushed to the help of the martyrs’ families, organising monetary disbursements with other NGOs.

Pope Tawadros II received a note of encouragement from Al-Tayeb.

“Al-Azhar and its scholars and sheikhs all stand by their brothers in this tragic accident and extend their sincere condolences to the families of the victims,” he said.

Following the tragedy, El-Sisi received condolence messages from the presidents of Tunisia and Lebanon.

Prosecutor General Hamada El-Sawy said that the Public Prosecution authority has concluded its investigation into the incident and determined that the victims died as a result of smoke inhalation.

El-Sawy stated that 41 people had killed and 16 others, including four police officers, had been injured.

El-Sawy added that the authorities had finished questioning the injured victims.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior acknowledged that the fire was started by an electrical problem in the air-conditioning system on the second level of the church building, which houses a number of classrooms.

Egypt’s Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, authorised the Minister of Social Solidarity to give EGP100,000 ($5,226) to each victim’s family and a maximum of EGP20,000 ($1,045) to each injured individual.

The Coptic Orthodox Church previously stated that the fire broke out during the Divine Liturgy at the building in the north of Giza, and that several people were transferred to the Imbaba and Agouza hospitals.

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