At least two officers and three members of the civil protection service were injured when they responded to the fire at the Abu Sefein church, Egypt’s interior ministry announced in a Facebook post.
The statement added that the fire started around 9 am local time and was caused by an electrical fault in an air conditioning unit on the second floor of the church.
Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by smoke in the church’s classrooms after the power failure, the interior ministry said.
“We are in continuous contact with the local authorities and the Ministry of Health,” the head of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, said, according to the church spokesman.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi tweeted his condolences to the victims of the Abu Sefein church fire.
“I offer my sincere condolences to the families of the innocent victims who moved to the side of their Lord in one of the places of worship,” El Sisi said.
The Egyptian president said he is closely following the developments of the “tragic accident” and has ordered state agencies and institutions to take the necessary measures to immediately deal with the tragedy and provide care to the injured.