A source from the monastery of Anba Samueel al-Muetarrif, St Samuel the Confessor, in Minya has denied rumours of a terror blast on Sunday 3 March 2019 on the unpaved road that leads to the monastery. Stories to that effect had gone viral on social media, given that the unpaved road had been the scene of two terror attacks that claimed 35 lives of pilgrims visiting the monastery in 2017 and 2018. The monastery lies in Egypt’s Western Desert some 200km southwest Cairo.
The monastery source told Watani that a fire did in fact took place on the western road beyond the unpaved road that leads to the monastery. He said that a truck that carried three persons was driving on that road in the wrong direction on its way to the gas station when it collided with a car that coming in the opposite direction at high speed. The head on collision sparked a fire; the three men lost their lives.
The accident was far from the monastery, the source said, confirming that ever since the terror attack last November, security around the monastery was very tight. He said that mobile communication towers were being set up around the unpaved road, after which the road will be paved. Both measures had been demanded by the monastery and the Coptic community at large, and were seconded by parliament members, with the aim of in securing travellers on that road which, according to security sources, is very hard to secure.
For full coverage of the two terror incidents at St Samuel’s:
Watani International
5 March 2019