At least 41 people, including 18 children, were killed and 45 others were injured Sunday when a fire broke out due to a short circuit at the crowded Abu Shifin Coptic Orthodox Church in the working class district of Ibaba, Giza, Egypt.

According to Egyptian authorities, more than 5,000 worshipers gathered at the temple to watch the Sunday service when suddenly smoke and flames blocked access to the exit from the temple. Panic reigned inside, causing many to be crushed as they tried to get out of the temple. Some tried to escape from the fiery hell by jumping out of the windows of the third and fourth floors of the building.

“Suddenly we saw smoke and flames,” said Yasser Munir, who was present at the service with his daughter and managed to save her. “People who were on the third and fourth floors began to quickly descend the stairs, someone fell, the rest followed him. They all turned into mush.”

A spokesman for the church, Reverend Musa Ibrahim, said the children who died were between five and 13 years old and that the fire was started by an electrical generator, but could not provide more information about the tragic incident. It should be noted that the temple also had a kindergarten, which was also overcrowded at the time of the fire.

Panic erupted in the overcrowded Coptic Orthodox Church in Giza, Egypt, causing many to be crushed.

Eyewitnesses described in detail the scenes of horror and heroism that unfolded on Sunday morning. Many attempted to enter the area to rescue trapped believers, but were immediately forced to abandon these efforts due to thick smoke.

A resident Ahmed Reda Bayumi described everyone who carried small children out of the church. “However, the smoke and flames prevented you from going back inside because you would have suffocated.” Most deaths are still due to smoke inhalation, but also fatal injuries from trampling, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Health. Also, according to Egyptian media, citing sources in the hospital, triplets of five-year-old brothers, as well as their mother, grandmother and aunt, died in the fire. Among the victims of the tragedy, the priest of the temple Abdul Masi Bakhit, 50 years old. At the priest’s funeral on Sunday evening, his wife held pieces of his charred vestment in her hands.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire a few hours later on Sunday afternoon. Photographs of the inside of the church show extensive damage, including burnt furniture. On Sunday late in the evening, the Egyptian Prime Minister and government representatives arrived at the scene of the tragedy, and the Cairo prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the causes of the fire.

Eyewitnesses said the church was in poor condition, which they blamed on the Egyptian government’s policy of discriminating against Coptic Christians by imposing debilitating restrictions on the upkeep, renovation and repair of churches.