EGYPT: One worshipper killed and six wounded in knife attacks by mentally ill man in Alexandria

Record ID: 354375

  • Title: EGYPT: One worshipper killed and six wounded in knife attacks by mentally ill man in Alexandria
  • Date: 15th April 2006
  • Summary: (BN16) ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (APRIL 14, 2006) (REUTERS) WIDE SHOT INTERIOR YARD OF CHURCH OF THE SAINTS IN ALEXANDRIA; SECURITY TALKING TO PEOPLE INSIDE CHURCH (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 30th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA2KAFOQALDVRC91328GDH6A238
  • Story Text: A mentally ill Egyptian man killed a worshipper and wounded six others on Friday (April 14, 2006) in knife attacks at two Coptic Christian churches in the coastal city of Alexandria, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
    Earlier, security and police officials said three Egyptians working together had killed one person and wounded three others in separate attacks on three churches and another man had been apprehended before attacking worshippers in a fourth church.
    "(He) was apprehended as he tried to enter (a third church)," the ministry said in the statement. "The aforementioned is called Mahmoud Abdul Razik Salah Eddin Hussein," it added.
    The ministry said Hussein had wounded three people in St. George's Church and then wounded three others in Saints Church before being stopped trying to enter another church named after St. George.
    "The attacks ... led to six being wounded, one of whom died from his wounds," the ministry said, adding that Hussein suffered from mental illness and the prosecutor was investigating the incident.
    An Interior Ministry official said Hussein's mental illness was the cause of the attacks and there was no political motivation. The official added Hussein had insulted worshippers at the first church before later returning.
    Eyewitnesses said the man was seen in the church area, brandishing two knives.
    "And the people as they were coming out were surprised by a man holding two knives and he came out and he hit two at the same time," a priest told Egyptian television.
    "I was surprised with the hysteria, I thought there was an accident. I looked and I saw a man holding two knives, white in colour and a knife approximately 30 centimetres and he was running. I looked and saw the policeman standing," another eyewitness explained.
    "If someone from the street, if someone got near him, he would attack them," he added.
    Copts account for up to 10 percent of Egypt's population of 73 million. They were the majority until several centuries after the Islamic conquest in the 7th century.
    The governor of Alexandria told Egyptian state television by telephone that Hussein, a supermarket employee, carried out the attack holding two knives and walked from church to church.
    Governor Abdul Salam Mahgoub said three of the people wounded in the attacks were in hospital but would leave later in the day.
    Police officials said about 500 people gathered peacefully in and around Saints Church, where the 67-year-old worshipper died, chanting prayers and condemning the attack.
    The Egyptian authorities have in the past blamed mental illness for attacks against European or Western tourists.
    An Egyptian man stabbed and wounded two Hungarian tourists in Cairo in March 2005, saying he was exacting revenge for Western policies towards Iraqis and Palestinians. The prosecutor general ordered him to be placed in a psychiatric hospital.
    Alexandria was the scene of violent protests in October over a church play demonstrators said was offensive to Islam. Three people died when the protesters clashed with police.
    Relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt are generally peaceful but there are occasional outbreaks of sectarian violence, notably in 1999 when 22 people were killed in the southern village of Kosheh.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register