CAIRO — Mourners packed an Egyptian church on Monday for a funeral service for 24 people killed in the bombing of Cairo's main Coptic cathedral, while angry survivors accused authorities of security lapses.
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The spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians, Pope Tawadros II, leads the funeral service for victims of a Sunday cathedral bombing, at the Virgin Mary Church, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday. — AP
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Tearful Christians gathered at the Virgin Mary and St Athanasius Church in Cairo where Coptic Pope Tawadros II prayed over the wooden coffins of the victims of Sunday's bombing, one the deadliest attacks on the Christian minority in recent memory.
On the walls hung banners bearing the names of the dead, many of them women.
Several hundred people gathered in the Madinat Nasr area furious at being denied entry to the church, where admittance was by invitation only for the families of victims.
There was also anger at hospitals treating the wounded.
Five survivors at Dar Al-Shefa hospital said police did not conduct the usual checks as the cathedral was particularly busy for Sunday's mass.
"There were large numbers so people entered without being searched," said Mina Francis, who was in the cathedral with his mother who was killed in the blast.
At least 24 people died and 49 were wounded when a bomb exploded in a chapel adjoining St Mark's Cathedral, Cairo's largest church and seat of the pope.
Security sources said at least six children were among the dead, with a bomb containing at least 12 kg (26 pounds) of TNT detonating on the side of the church used by women.
The chapel's floor was covered in debris from shattered windows, its wooden pews blasted apart, its pillars blackened. Here and there lay abandoned shoes and patches of blood.
"God protect Egypt from evil and protect all Egyptians," Pope Tawadros told state television on Sunday, after cutting short a visit to Greece. "In times like this we lean on each other, stand together and offer condolences to each other. This grief we will share together."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but exiled Brotherhood officials and other militant groups joined the international community in condemning the attack.
The United States said it would work with its partners to "defeat such terrorist acts". The UN Security Council urged all states to cooperate with investigators to find the culprits.
Scuffles broke out as protesters accused police of security failures.
At Demerdash hospital, relatives sat outside the operating theaters dressed in black, tears streaming down their cheeks.
The Health Ministry revised down the death toll from 25 overnight, but doctors said it was likely to rise as many people had suffered serious injuries and hospitals lacked drugs and equipment.
Orthodox Copts, who comprise about 10 percent of Egypt's 90 million people, are the Middle East's biggest Christian community.
The last major attack on a church took place as worshipers left a New Year's service in Alexandria weeks before the start of the 2011 uprising. At least 21 people were killed. The circumstances remain a mystery and no one was punished.
Egypt's Christian community has felt increasingly insecure since Daesh spread through Iraq and Syria in 2014, ruthlessly targeting religious minorities. In 2015, 21 Egyptian Christians working in Libya were killed by Daesh. — Reuters
