A fire ripped through a church in a densely populated neighborhood of the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sunday, August 14,  leaving at least 41 dead while 55 victims have been transferred to several hospitals, a Coptic Church source said.

The cause of the blaze in the Abu Sefein church in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement.

Four fire trucks rushed to the scene in a bid to contain the blaze. Police cordoned off the place. Fire fighters began cooling operations to make sure that fire would not erupt again given high temperature and the availability of large quantities of wood inside the church.

President Sisi directed all relevant state institutions to immediately take all necessary measures to deal with this incident and its effects, and to provide all aspects of health care for the injured.