CAIRO — Mourners in
Egypt attended a
memorial service Tuesday for victims of a Coptic church fire in Cairo that
killed 41 people — among them many children, including twins and triplets.
اضافة اعلان
The electrical fire on Sunday ripped through the Abu
Sifin church in Imbaba, a working class district west of the
Nile River, part
of Giza governorate in greater Cairo.
At least 10 of those killed during Sunday mass, when
families flock to the church and its daycare services, were minors aged under
16, according to a list from just one hospital circulated by local media.
Coptic Bishop Martyros led a “third day” service
Tuesday in central Cairo’s Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary to commemorate the
resurrection of Christ and honor the souls of the dead.
“The entire country is ailing,” the bishop told the
bereaved, two days after the blaze rocked Egypt’s 10-million-strong Coptic
community, the
Middle East’s largest Christian population.
Among those killed were six members of the same
family, one mourner, Sandy George, told AFP.
“My aunt Magda and her daughters, Merna and Irina,
and Irina’s three kids” died of asphyxiation, George said.
Irina’s children who were killed were the
five-year-old twins Barthinia and Mariam and their brother Ibram, aged four.
Also killed were five-year-old triplets Mehrael,
Youssef and Filopateer Bassem Amir, according to the hospital list.
Hundreds attended another third-day service in a
nearby church, for Father Abd al-Messih Bekheit of the Abu Sifin church, who
reportedly died trying to save members of the congregation.
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