Orthodox churches burn in Sydney, Melbourne and New York

Two Orthodox churches in Australia were engulfed in flames on Easter Sunday, just hours after a Serbian Orthodox church burned down in New York. A large fire consumed the Serbian Church of Saint Sava in central Manhattan, New York, on the day Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter. There were no casualties or injuries, reports the Patria news agency.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale was completely destroyed by the blaze, while the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Melbourne was only damaged.

According to local media, the fire broke out at the church in Rockdale around 10 p.m. local time, just a few hours after the end of Easter ceremonies. Fortunately, no one was inside the building. 

According to the latest information, four people were slightly injured, including two firefighters.

 

About 60 firefighters from 15 stations battled the flames for several hours, but were unable to prevent the fire from completely engulfing the building. 

"We were surprised by the intensity of the fire; the building collapsed very quickly. We were lucky there were so few injuries," said Greg Malins from the fire service. 

As he stated, it is too early to discuss the cause, but due to the Easter celebration, people were in the church all day, making it "hard to believe that someone managed to set the fire." 

"It was ten in the evening, and this is a very lively area; surely someone would have noticed something happening," said fire service supervisor Greg Renkin, adding that possible causes include installations or candles. Police are conducting an investigation, reports B92.