Fire in Coptic Orthodox church in Egypt kills 41 including at least 10 children

Tragedy struck a packed Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo, capital of Egypt. It was a fire that happened at the Martyr Abu Sefein church during morning services and killed 41. In order to escape from the flames and fumes, many of the worshippers jumped from the upper floors. In the words of a survivor, the deaths were due to suffocation. Apart from the dead, many people who helped in rescue efforts suffered injuries. They included four policemen. The authorities rushed many of the victims to nearby hospitals. 41 killed in Egypt church fire, including many children. The church in Giza city in Greater Cairo is located in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba. Giza is the second-largest city of Egypt and it lies just across the River Nile from Cairo.

Preliminary investigation indicates the source of the fire was in the second floor air conditioning system, probably from an electrical malfunction. The main cause of death was smoke inhalation. Families of those who lost their lives would receive compensation of $5,220. This is as per a cabinet statement. Incidentally, Copts are the largest Christian community in the Middle East. They make up at least 10 million of Egypt’s 103 million people. Egypt has suffered several deadly fires in recent years. In March 2021, the loss of lives was of at least 20 people. It happened in a textile factory in the eastern suburbs of Cairo. Prior to that in 2020, two hospital fires killed 14 patients who suffered from COVID-19.

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EgyptAir Airbus A320 from Paris to Cairo crashes with 66 passengers and crew on board

It has been confirmed by officials of Egyptian aviation that an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed. It was EgyptAir Flight 804 and it lost contact with ground radar while flying at 37,000 feet. the Airbus A320 had vanished 10 miles (16 kilometers) after it entered Egyptian airspace. A search has been started to locate the debris. The "possibility that the plane crashed has been confirmed," because it has not landed at any of the nearby airports.
French president Francois Hollande has spoken telephonically with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and assured to "closely cooperate to establish as soon as possible the circumstances" in which the EgyptAir flight disappeared.
This has been reported intimesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 May 2016.

Egyptian military aircraft were searching for the plane. It was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two babies, and 10 crew members and its pilot had 6,000 flight hours. EgyptAir has said that those on board included 15 French passengers, 30 Egyptians, one Briton, two Iraqis, one Kuwaiti, one Saudi, one Sudanese, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Belgian, one Algerian and one Canadian.
It seems the pilot did not send a distress call, and the last contact was made 10 minutes before it disappeared from radar.
France continues to remain under a state of emergency after Islamic extremist attacks had killed 130 people in a spree of attacks in November - the ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attacks.


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EgyptAir hijack drama - highjacker wore a fake suicide vest

It was a hijack drama on an EgyptAir Airbus A320 Flight MS181, carrying 62 people, including eight Brits and ten Americans, was en-route from Alexandria to Cairo when it was hijacked and forced to land on Cyprus. The hijacker wore a suicide vest that turned out to be a fake - he was not a terrorist but 'an idiot' as described by an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official.
The hijacking was confirmed by EgyptAir on Twitter and subsequent negotiations with the hijacker resulted in the release of a majority of the hostages, except for the crew and four foreigners.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 29 March 2016.

Flight MS181 had taken off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria and was en route to Cairo and, as indicated by an official with flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, the plane showed no immediate signs of distress. The flight between Alexandria and Cairo normally takes about 30 minutes but the hijacker forced it to re-route to Cyprus' Larnaca airport, where he has taken several passengers and crew hostage and demanded to see his Cypriot ex-wife.
The hijacker had made a series of erratic requests, including asking to meet with representatives of the European Union, and to be taken to other airports. He had handed over a four-page letter intended for his ex-wife ... the letter was written in Arabic, and is being translated. He had also asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt. Obviously, this is a peculiar case and investigation is on to establish the true facts.


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Airbus A-321 of Metrojet crashed in Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 on board

It was a major disaster in which all 224 on boards has been killed. The flight had taken off for St Petersburg from the holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and crashed in the Sinai Peninsula. The crash happened shortly after takeoff.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 1 November 2015.

The ISIS has claimed reprehensibility for the crash but Egyptian officials have indicated that the pilot had radioed air traffic control to report technical difficulties and had requested for an emergency landing at the nearest airport before losing contact with air traffic controllers.
However, Kogalymavia, the company that owns Metrojet, has claimed that the plane was in "full working order" and was being operated by an extremely experienced crew.
The details supplied by Metrojet are that the plane was an Airbus A321-200 manufactured in 1997 and had been operated by Metrojet since 2012 - it had accumulated 56,000 flight hours in nearly 21,000 journeys. Incidentally, the history of the aircraft as posted by the Aviation Safety Network showed its only previous incident was a tail-strike accident that occurred in 2001 during a landing in Cairo.
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Egypt wants a new capital with a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland

#egypt #cairo #alsisi #disneyland #themepark Yes, the authorities in Egypt are planning to have a new capital east of the present capital of Cairo – the new capital would be able to house up to five million, would have a theme park that would be four times bigger than Disneyland and the 73,000-acre city would be completed in another five to seven years’ time at a cost of $45bn. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 14 March 2015.
It would be a new administrative and business capital as revealed by the Housing minister Mustafa Kamel Madbuli but, details of how the work would be funded has not been elaborated.
The objective is that the population of Cairo at present is around 18 million and this is expected to double in the next 40 years, hence the need for expansion.
The proposed city would boast of large green spaces, an international airport, a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland in California, 90 square kilometres of solar farms, and an electric train that will provide a link with Cairo. This new capital would house the parliament, presidential palaces, government ministries and foreign embassies.
Incidentally, the plan for the new city had first been announced last summer and some details have now been revealed. President Abdel Fattah al Sisi is hopeful that the plan would give a boost to kick-start Egypt's troubled economy.

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Egyptian police gun down a woman in Cairo on Arab Spring anniversary

#arabspring #TahrirSquare #egypt #cairo #abdelfattahalsisi A woman demonstrator was gunned down in clashes with Egyptian police during a protest in central Cairo on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising against Hosni Mubarak. As informed by a spokesman of the health ministry, the woman Shaima al-Sabbagh died of birdshot wounds. Fellow protesters said those were fired by police to disperse the march.
The woman, an activist of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party is believed to be 34-years-old with a five-year-old son and the police shot her in the head as she was marching peacefully marched towards the Tahrir Square to lay a commemorative wreath of roses.
She was taken to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab has said that the death was being investigated and vowed that 'whoever committed a mistake will be punished. A suggestion is that the Islamist 'infiltrators' were to blame.
The clash had taken place hours before state television aired a pre-recorded speech by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to mark the fourth anniversary of the uprising in which he has said that - 'I salute all our martyrs, from the beginning of January 25 (2011) until now.'
It may be recalled that Arab Spring had overthrown Hosni Mubarak and brought to power Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who was, in turn, toppled by the then army chief Sisi in July 2013.