Fatal blast near Egypt church

  • 09/04/2017
egyptian police generic
There was no immediate claim of responsibility (Reuters / file)

A bomb has struck a church north of Cairo, killing at least 13 people and wounding 35 others.

The attack took place on the Coptic Christian Palm Sunday, when the church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta was packed with worshippers, Egypt's Health Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed confirmed the toll from the attack in an interview with CBC TV.

The state-run MENA news agency provided the same death toll and said 35 were wounded.

CBC showed footage from inside the church, where a large number of people gathered around what appeared to be lifeless, bloody bodies covered with papers.

Christians make up around 10 percent of Egypt's population and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.

Reuters