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| People watch as the coffins of victims arrive to the Coptic church that was bombed on Sunday, in Tanta, Egypt, April 9, 2017. Reuters |
By Mark Woods
Christian Today
Abanoub Gamal, a member of St George's, told World Watch Monitor: 'I was standing behind the back pews, next to the church door. At about 9.05am I noticed a man wearing a brown jacket enter the church and walk among the pews from the back to the front ... [He] stood in front of the church altar and he then exploded himself.'
He continued: 'Then there was a huge explosion, the lights went off, all the people screamed, the situation was terrible. The church was filled with the bodies of the dead, body parts and the injured. Blood was splattered all over the place and reached the church ceiling.'
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Gamal said he believed the Bishop of Tanta, Paula, was targeted but escaped death because he was not the celebrant at yesterday's Mass. However, 'the blast destroyed his chair by the altar'.
Video footage shows a robed male choir singing in the moments before the explosion, when the picture cuts out and shouting and screaming can be heard. Most victims were men and many were deacons because the suicide bomber detonated his vest near to the pews in which the men sit.
Mobile phone footage from the moments after the blast shows palm fronds in pools of blood, the floor of the church spattered with in blood, dust and masonry, and the decapitated body of one of the dead being carried out on a stretcher. One woman is heard screaming hysterically, while other members of the congregation move pews to get to the injured.
Eyewitnesses said of the Alexandria attack that the suicide bomber tried to enter the church as worshippers were leaving. A member of the congregation, Mina Makram, said one of the cathedral's guards, a man named Nasim, 'stopped him, prevented him from entering the cathedral, and asked him to pass through a metal detector first. The man entered the detector briefly, then took a step back and exploded the suicide vest he was wearing under his jacket.'
She said Nasim's actions had saved many lives, including that of Pope Tawadros, at whom she said she believed the attack was aimed.
'Pope Tawadros was targeted to be killed... if this suicide bomber had been able to enter the church, the number of the victims would have been more,' she said.
Persecution Unveiled has been called by God to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to speak up and act on behalf of those who have no voice. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google; like us on Facebook, and visit our website using this link.
He continued: 'Then there was a huge explosion, the lights went off, all the people screamed, the situation was terrible. The church was filled with the bodies of the dead, body parts and the injured. Blood was splattered all over the place and reached the church ceiling.'
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Gamal said he believed the Bishop of Tanta, Paula, was targeted but escaped death because he was not the celebrant at yesterday's Mass. However, 'the blast destroyed his chair by the altar'.
Video footage shows a robed male choir singing in the moments before the explosion, when the picture cuts out and shouting and screaming can be heard. Most victims were men and many were deacons because the suicide bomber detonated his vest near to the pews in which the men sit.
Mobile phone footage from the moments after the blast shows palm fronds in pools of blood, the floor of the church spattered with in blood, dust and masonry, and the decapitated body of one of the dead being carried out on a stretcher. One woman is heard screaming hysterically, while other members of the congregation move pews to get to the injured.
Eyewitnesses said of the Alexandria attack that the suicide bomber tried to enter the church as worshippers were leaving. A member of the congregation, Mina Makram, said one of the cathedral's guards, a man named Nasim, 'stopped him, prevented him from entering the cathedral, and asked him to pass through a metal detector first. The man entered the detector briefly, then took a step back and exploded the suicide vest he was wearing under his jacket.'
She said Nasim's actions had saved many lives, including that of Pope Tawadros, at whom she said she believed the attack was aimed.
'Pope Tawadros was targeted to be killed... if this suicide bomber had been able to enter the church, the number of the victims would have been more,' she said.
Persecution Unveiled has been called by God to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to speak up and act on behalf of those who have no voice. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google; like us on Facebook, and visit our website using this link.
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