Alexandria church bombing death toll rises to 11

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April 9, 2017 3:31 PM

Thirty-five people were wounded in the Alexandria blast at Saint Mark's church during a Palm Sunday Mass.

A body is wheeled away near a church in Alexandria, Egypt after a bomb blast struck worshippers gathering to celebrate Palm Sunday on April 9, 2017

At least 11 people were killed in an Alexandria church bombing on Sunday, hours after a blast killed 25 worshippers in another church in Egypt, the health ministry said.

Thirty-five people were wounded in the Alexandria blast at Saint Mark's church where Coptic Pope Tawadros II had been attending a Palm Sunday Mass.

A Coptic Church official said that Tawadros had left the church before the blast.

An earlier blast at a church in Tanta, north of Cairo, killed 25 people and wounded dozens, the health ministry said, in an apparent attack on Coptic worshippers.

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt's population of more than 92 million and who celebrate Easter next weekend, have been targeted by several attacks in recent months.

Pope Francis is due to visit Cairo on April 28-29 to show solidarity with Egypt's Christian community.

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