A church fire in Egypt which started during a Sunday service has killed at least 41 people and left dozens injured.
Several ambulances rushed to the scene in Giza, the country’s second largest city, as firefighters battled to extinguish the flames.
According to local media, many of the victims at the Abu Sifin church – which has a nursery – are thought to be children.
The Egyptian health ministry said deaths are still being counted.
The electrical fire broke out as 5,000 worshippers gathered for mass at the church in the Imbaba neighbourhood, causing a stampede, Reuters sources said.
Footage circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs. Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances.
Yasir Munir, a worshipper at the church, said: “People were gathering on the third and fourth floor, and we saw smoke coming from the second floor. People rushed to go down the stairs and started falling on top of each other.”
“Then we heard a bang and sparks and fire coming out of the window,” he said, adding that he and his daughter were on the ground floor and able to escape.
Maher Murad told how he left his sister at the church after prayers.
“As soon as I got away from the church by only 10 metres, I heard the sound of screaming and saw thick smoke,” he said.
“After the firefighters doused the fire, I recognised my sister's body. The bodies are all charred, and many of them are children, who were in a nursery room in the church.”
Egypt’s interior ministry said it received a report on the fire at 9am local time, and found that the blaze broke out in an air conditioner on the building’s second floor.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said: “I closely follow the developments of the painful accident in Al-Munira Church in Giza Governorate, and all the institutions of the concerned state have directed to take all necessary measures, and immediately to deal with this accident and its effects and to provide all aspects of healthcare to the injured.”
He added: “My sincere condolences to the families of the innocent victims who moved to their Lord's neighbour in a house from his homes where he is worshipped.”
The president’s office added that Mr Al-Sisi has been in contact with the Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences.
Egypt's Christians account for some 10 per cent of the nation's 90 million people and have long complained of discrimination by the nation's Muslim majority.
Yesterday’s blaze was one of the worst fire-related tragedies in recent years in Egypt. In March last year, a fire at a garment factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people and injured 24 more.
