Egypt gives permits to 125 churches after fire safety concerns

Coptic church says it is grateful for continued efforts to issue permits to previously unlicensed churches

Egyptian mourners at a funeral of some of the 41 worshippers, many of them children, killed in Sunday's Abu Seifein church fire in Giza, greater Cairo. AFP

Funerals were held at two Cairo churches after a blaze ripped through the Coptic Christian church during Sunday Mass. AFP

Coffins of those killed in the fire in the densely populated Imbaba working class district west of the Nile River. AFP

Mourners at a funeral held at the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Giza governorate. AFP

Crowds watch as a coffin is lifted into an ambulance to be taken to a memorial service. AP

Grieving family members at a joint funeral service. Reuters

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly visits the Abu Seifein church, which was gutted by a blaze blamed on an electrical fault. AFP

Mostafa Madbouly speaks to officials at the blaze site. AFP

The prime minister visits one of the 14 people in hospital after the blaze. AFP

Abandoned shoes at the church. AP

The fire-damaged church interior. AP

A Coptic priest outside the church in the aftermath of the deadly blaze. AFP

Egypt's Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El Kabbag visits injured victims. Photo: MOSS

At least 55 people were taken to hospital in 30 ambulances after they were injured in the blaze. Photo: MOSS

The congregation were packed in a chapel when the fire broke out. Reuters

Security forces members at the scene of the tragedy. Reuters

Damage caused to the church, where the fire is thought to have broken out in an air-conditioning unit. Reuters

Firefighters at the church in the aftermath of the deadly blaze. Photo: Ministry of the Interior

Firefighters enter the church building. Photo: Ministry of the Interior

Egypt's government gave official permits to 125 buildings belonging to the Coptic church on Monday.

It brings to 2,526 the number of permits granted to previously unlicensed Egypt churches by a committee formed in 2017, the cabinet said.

The permits can be given to four types of building: churches, solitude or retreat houses (where priests and students can sequester themselves in study or prayer), service buildings and annexes. They give the church the right to renovate, rebuild and expand the structures as it sees fit.

Reverend Mikhail Anton, vice-chairman of the Committee to Legalise the Status of Churches, separate from the one convened by the cabinet, lauded the effort to legalise churches in Egypt.

“We are very thankful for the care being shown to our community by the cabinet committee and we are working closely with them to ensure that all the legalised churches are safe for worshippers and those who live around them,” Mr Anton told The National.

Up until 2017, when then prime minister Sherif Ismail formed the church legalisation committee, Egypt’s churches were all technically unlicensed by the government, Mr Anton said. They were often built in densely populated neighbourhoods with narrow streets and poor fire safety, which has made them prone to accidents.

In August, a fire at the Abu Seifein church in a low income neighbourhood in Giza killed 44 worshippers who were locked inside one of the chapels. During the same month, multiple other churches also witnessed fires, albeit much less deadly than the one at Abu Seifein.

The reason given by authorities for the string of fires was electrical short circuits, except for a fire at a church in the province of Minya which they said was caused by children playing with lit candles.

Abu Seifein had been licensed by the government in 2019, but that was not enough to prevent the deadly fire, highlighted the need for churches to implement safety protocols. Mr Anton declined to comment on this point.

Monday’s cabinet statement said particular attention was being paid to equipping churches with fire extinguishers and ensuring they had escape routes.

Mr Anton said while these protocols was important in theory, it is difficult to implement due the areas many churches are built in.

“One such protocol for instance is that churches must be built on streets which are at least four metres in width,” he said.

“This is important but as is the case with many churches in upper Egypt, they simply don’t have access to the space because of where they are built.

“So we are trying to get more flexibility from the government on the safety measures so that licenses aren’t revoked later when they find that the rules weren’t being met.”

Only licensed churches must implement the protocols, Mr Anton said, as they can only be regulated by the government if they are first recognised by it.

The cabinet committee formed by Mr Ismail is made up of representatives of the ministries of defence, military production, housing, local development, justice and antiquities.

One representative each from the General Intelligence Service, the interior ministry’s National Security Agency and the Administrative Control Authority are also on the committee, which currently has only one representative of the Coptic faith.