Pope offers condolences to victims of Cyprus wildfires

A funeral service has been held at the church of the Holy Virgin in the Minya village of Nassriya some 250km south of Cairo for the four Coptic victims who lost their lives in the Cyprus wildfires earlier this month. Their bodies had been brought home to Egypt for burial in their home village of Nassriya. Attending the service were Minya Governor Major General Ussama al-Qadi and Cypriot Ambassador to Egypt Homer Mavrommatis.

Pope Tawadros delegated Anba Stephanos, Bishop of Beba and al-Fashn, to preside over the funeral service, and to relay the Pope’s condolences to the victims’ families.

The four victims: Ezzat Salama, Eid Nash’at, Samuel Milad and Maged Younan worked as farm workers in the region of Larnaca in Cyprus. They lost their lives in the wildfires that ravaged the area on 4 and 5 July 2021.

On 10 July, the bodies of the four victims were flown to Egypt, and were received at Cairo Internationl Airport by Amr Mahmoud Abbas, Aide to Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry; and Mr Mavrommatis, Cypriot Ambassador to Cairo; together with family members of the victims accompanied by MP Ihab Ramzy of Beni Mazar, Minya.

During his sermon, Anba Staphanos noted that Pope Tawadros had been closely following the procedures related to flying the bodies home. He

thanked President Sisi, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Prime Minster Mostafa Madbouly, and Egyptian Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Health and Immigration for their efforts in for working with their Cypriot counterparts to facilitate the procedures of returning home the bodies of the victims.

The Coptic Church in Cyprus had held in Nicosia a service for the souls of the victims.