According to a statement by the Bishopric of Minya and Abu-Qurqas, an argument which broke out between a number of Muslim and Coptic youth from the village of Assem in Minya, some 250km south of Cairo, at 10a.m on 12 September escalated into a fight. Gamal Sobhy Khalil suffered serious injuries in the skull and is now in intensive care at the University Hospital in Minya, and Rizq Zakariya was wounded in the eyes and is under treatment at Horus Hospital in Minya.
The statement said that the police arrived directly at the scene of the fight and contained the matter. Twenty Muslims and 17 Copts were arrested.
Minya’s new Governor Essameddin al-Bedeiwi also moved Assem to the scene of the incident.
Minya Bishopric said that a similar incident had occurred on 12 July 2016 but that then no culprit was taken to account.
Anba Macarius, Bishop-General of Minya and Abu-Qurqas visited the injured in hospital, and also the families of the victims in the village.
The Bishopric gave no further details on the incident or its causes.