Minya church fire caused by children playing with candles: Coptic Orthodox Church

The fire that erupted inside a hall at Bishop Bishoy church in southern Egyptian Minya province was "unintentional," the Coptic Orthodox Church said in a statement on Wednesday, ruling out foul play.

The investigation conducted by the prosecution-general and the crime scene investigators found out, after surfing surveillance cameras, that "the fire was accidentally caused by children playing with candles near the church alter," the statement read.

The prosecutor summoned both children and their families and they confirmed what appeared in the video recordings, the statement added.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday evening, a Coptic church located in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria was evacuated after a power cut occurred on the premises resulting from an overload in the main cable supplying electricity due to an overload, local privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported, citing an official statement by the church.

The church called on the public to ignore rumours and wrong information, the report added.

Earlier this week, a major fire broke out in another church near the capital Cairo that claimed the lives of 41 worshipers during Sunday mass, including over a dozen children. Preliminary investigations revealed the fire resulted from a short circuit.

Christians make up approximately 10 per cent of the population of Muslim-majority Egypt; most of them are Coptic Orthodox. They are among the world's oldest Christian communities.