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A 35-year-old male suspect has been arrested however police say the motive for the deadly stabbing continues to be unclear.
Three Egyptian Coptic Orthodox monks have been stabbed to demise at a monastery in South Africa.
Police mentioned on Wednesday {that a} 35-year-old man had been arrested in reference to the murders in Gauteng province, however that they have been nonetheless unable to find out the motive for the crime.
The suspect, whose title was not made public, was attributable to seem in court docket on Thursday.
Police mentioned three monks have been killed on Tuesday contained in the monastery of St Mark the Apostle and St Samuel the Confessor in Cullinan, 50 km (30 miles) north-east of the capital Pretoria.
“Three victims have been discovered with knife accidents, whereas the fourth sufferer, who survived, alleged that he was hit on his hand with an iron rod earlier than operating away and hiding in a room,” the police assertion mentioned.
It mentioned that nothing was taken from the spot.
The Egyptian Overseas Ministry mentioned it was “intently following the investigation into the homicide of three Egyptian monks”.
The Coptic Orthodox Church mentioned the three monks have been Egyptian residents because it named them Hegumen Takla al-Samueli, Yostos Ava Markos and Mina Ava Markos.
“There isn’t any doubt that it is a tragic occasion,” Pope Tawadros II mentioned in a press release on Wednesday. He known as the monks “martyrs” and mentioned the church had despatched a delegation to South Africa.
'There are a lot of rumours, however the fact of the scenario has not been revealed but. We console their households, we console the church there, and we console ourselves.”
The Pope mentioned no date has been set for the funeral, however the monks will doubtless be buried in South Africa the place they served in accordance with custom.
Lethal assaults on locations of worship are uncommon in South Africa, nevertheless, the Coptic Orthodox Church, one of many world's oldest Christian communities, has been the goal of assaults by Islamic fighters in Egypt and elsewhere.
The church has in current months condemned Israel's ongoing conflict on Gaza.