• The majority of the fatalities, according to the health ministry, were caused by smoke inhalation.
• Investigators suspect the fire began as a result of an electrical short-circuit in the church’s first floor.
• The children’s mother raises three fingers to represent her children at their burial service.

The 41 persons dead when a fire ripped through a Coptic Christian church in Egypt on Sunday included at least 15 children.

Children and their parents attended Mass that morning in the crowded Abu Sefein Church in Giza’s working-class Imbaba neighbourhood. On the first floor of the four-story building, where investigators suspect the fire began as a result of an electrical short-circuit, many additional kids were enrolled in lessons or a nursery.

The majority of the fatalities, according to the health ministry, were caused by smoke inhalation and a stampede that occurred when people raced to leave the church through a blocked exit.

Mohrael, Youssef, and Philopator Bassem Amir, three five-year-old triplets, were among the kid victims, according to family members, church officials, a local hospital, and Egyptian news agencies.
Along with the siblings, their mother Irina Atef Ramzi, 34, grandma Magda Habib Nabih, 61, and aunt Mirna Atef Ramzi, 25, also passed away.

Magda’s niece and Irina’s cousin, the musician Miretya Emad, posted condolences on her Facebook page.

“With Christ, which is far better. Remember us before the throne of grace,” She composed. “I now have six saints in heaven.”

Not just the family of Miretya Emad lost three children in the tragedy.

According to a list of victims released by the Imbaba General Hospital, the five-year-old twin daughters Mariam and Barsina Tamir Wajih and their three-year-old brother Ibrahim were among the victims.

Photos from a burial service on Sunday night appeared to show the children’s mother grieving next to their caskets while raising three fingers to represent her children.
The list of victims provided by the hospital also includes Karolos Aryan, 10, Mina Azmi, 13, and Mina Fakhir, 16.

According to the Copts United news website, Karolos’ mother also passed away. Rami, though, was still alive.

On Sunday, Rami discussed his ordeal with reporters while lying in a hospital bed. He claimed that the three of them had gone to Mass together but had split up during the fire and that he was unaware of their whereabouts. Rami’s cousins apparently informed him of their fate after the interview.

A woman who claimed to have lost two children in the fire, one of them was named Mina, was quoted by local media.

“I am the one who took them to Heaven,” Esnad said, explaining that she had woken them up to go to Mass. “Mina told me to go on Wednesday,” she added. “But I refused and told him that he would go today.”

One of the adult victims identified by the hospital was Abdul Masih Bakhit, the church’s bishop, who is 50 years old. At the funeral, a picture of his wife was taken holding what appeared to be a burned piece of his clergy attire.

[embedpost slug=”/egyptian-muslim-rescues-5-children-from-church-fire/”]