Mariam Habeib, center, who lost six relatives in a fire at the Abu Sefein Coptic Christian Orthodox Church that killed 41 people during a Sunday service, receives condolences outside her house in the neighborhood of Imbaba, one of Egypts most densely populated, in Giza, Egypt, Aug. 16, 2022. For Habeib, the grief is never ending: She lost her older sister, two nieces and a niece's three young children.
According to prosecutors, the fire was ignited by a short-circuit in the building’s generator, a backup source of power, which the church used during regular outages. The generator, they said, caught fire when the current returned after a blackout that morning. “All of them were lying motionless before our eyes,” she said. “The kids had been very lively ones, as if they knew that their end would be soon.”
The limits on new church construction have led many congregations to convert residential buildings into places of worship. In 2016, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government issuedJust a day before the fire, on Saturday, the entire family had been together for their weekly family gathering, steps away from the church.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: PennLive - 🏆 463. / 53 Read more »
Source: wjxt4 - 🏆 246. / 63 Read more »
Source: artnet - 🏆 522. / 51 Read more »
Source: ABC7NY - 🏆 592. / 51 Read more »
Source: ChicagoBreaking - 🏆 521. / 51 Read more »