Egypt Coptic church attack:how church server forestalled more deaths

A church keeper at the Mar Mina church in Egypt who witnessed the deadly attack on a Christian Coptic church on Friday that killed at least 11 people, has been recounting events of the tragic incident.

Sama’an Farag said he quickly shut and locked the gates of the church when he heard gunfire, saving the lives of dozens of children attending an after school prayer at the church.

‘‘I was sitting behind the door and I heard gunfire outside. I managed to run and close the door and we took the people upstairs. I heard that there was a paralyzed man who was killed with his wife. We felt sad for him and the other people and the officer who was killed,said Sam’an.”

The server of the church said but for the church keeper, many more lives could have been lost.

“Imagine the church has many children. All ages of children and in all age groups. Imagine children from kindergarten to high school, they were all still inside the church. God forbid if he had entered the church there would have been many more victims. The heroic role by the church keepers and the young people in the church by shutting the gate helped secure the gate. Look at how the bullets pierced holes inside the steel door, imagine what it would do to a human. Look at the glass of the church”, said Saad Saeed.

A gunman killed at least 11 people on Friday December, 29 in two attacks, one on a Coptic Orthodox church and the other on a Christian-owned shop near Cairo before he was wounded and arrested, the Egyptian interior ministry and church officials said

The Church said a young woman died later from her wounds.