At least 21 people were killed and dozens more injured after an explosion ripped through a Coptic Christian church in northern Egypt during a service to celebrate Palm Sunday, according to an official from the Health Ministry.
The explosion occurred at 9:30 a.m. at St. George’s Church in the Nile delta city of Tanta, 50 miles north of Cairo.
The deputy minister of health put the preliminary death toll at 21, but some local television reports said at least 25 people had died.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the bombing followed a number of attacks by Islamic State militants targeting Egypt’s minority Christian groups.
It comes weeks before Pope Francis is to visit Egypt, and a week before Easter, on Palm Sunday.
Photos from the scene circulating on social media showed scenes of blood and devastation, from the bomb inside the church.
Initial reports said that the explosion occurred in the pews near the front of the church, and that many of the dead were children.
A security official told the state news agency they believed the blast had been caused by an explosive device planted inside the church.
According to Sky News Arabia, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered military hospitals to treat the injured.