Beni Suef Cultural Palace fire
Introduction


The **Beni Suef Cultural Palace fire** occurred in [Beni Suef](/wiki/Beni_Suef "Beni Suef"), [Egypt](/wiki/Egypt "Egypt"), on September 5, 2005, and killed 46 people.

The Cultural Palace was overcrowded at the occasion of the Amateur Theatre Festival when a burning candle lit paper scenery on the stage and started a [conflagration](/wiki/Conflagration "Conflagration"). A stampede erupted towards a single exit. Fire extinguishing equipment was locked in a distant room, and fire engines and ambulances arrived late and unprepared People died both from burns and in the [crowd crush](/wiki/Crowd_crush "Crowd crush").

In the aftermath the Minister of Culture, [Farouk Hosni](/wiki/Farouk_Hosny "Farouk Hosny"), resigned, a move that was later revoked by President [Hosni Mubarak](/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak "Hosni Mubarak"). In May 2006 eight cultural bureaucrats were convicted for negligence and received ten\-year prison sentences.

The fire drastically affected the theatrical community of Egypt who had come to the Cultural Palace on that day for the festival. September 5 has been named the National Day of Theatre in remembrance.


Who resigned after the fire and why?