A mass brought together on Tuesday August 16 in Cairo the relatives of six children from the same family, including twin sisters and their brother, who died in the fire on Sunday of a Coptic Church in the Egyptian capital, according to a correspondent of the AFP.
This fire, caused by a short circuit, took place during a mass at the Abou Sifine church, located in a narrow alley of Imbaba, a densely populated working-class district on the left bank of the Nile.
According to the authorities, 41 people died and 14 others were injured.
“The whole country is suffering”
"
My aunt Magda and her daughters Mirna and Irina, as well as Irina's three children
" died of asphyxiation in the fire, Sandy George told AFP in the Church of the Virgin Mary in central Cairo. , where mass was held on Tuesday.
Barthina and Mariam, twins, were five years old and their brother Ibram was four.
If the authorities did not say how many children had died in the disaster, a local media published the list of the hospital of Imbaba with the identity of ten children under 16 who died.
Another sibling, triplets, is on this list.
AFP journalists attended the funerals of victims on Sunday and saw several coffins of children.
The "
Third Day Mass
", celebrated by Christians in Egypt, marks the ascent of the souls of the deceased to heaven, Bishop Martyros said in the church.
“
The whole country is suffering
,” he told the assembly.
Read alsoEgypt: more than 40 dead in the accidental fire of a church in Cairo
On Tuesday, in a nearby church, an AFP correspondent saw nearly 200 people gathered in memory of Father Abd al-Messih Bekheit, who died while trying to save members of his congregation trapped by the flames.
Residents said other people braved the flames and smoke to save children.
Witnesses to the tragedy pointed the finger at the authorities, accused of having taken more than an hour to react, despite the official version.
