It was one of the deadliest days of violence against Christians in Egypt in years, on one of the holiest days on the calendar.
Worshippers were celebrating Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, when two bombs exploded in different cities in the country's north.
In the coastal city of Alexandria, where the second blast took place at Saint Mark's Cathedral, witnesses described the carnage.
"I saw bodies and broken seats. There was much blood everywhere. The first three rows inside the church were destroyed. There's blood all over the place."
"Young men and children died. Concrete's been destroyed, so you can imagine what happened to the people. The palms are full of blood."
A suicide bomber had tried to enter the cathedral but was stopped by security.
Instead, he blew himself up outside the front of the church.
The impact was still great, with the blast killing several people, including three policemen, and injuring dozens.
Nearby shop owner Amal Bekheit says he watched it unfold.
"They said on his way inside, while he was being searched, just like we were all searched before we went inside, so while they were searching him, they found something. And when he was arrested, he pushed the button and blew himself up. The two police officers were blown up, and the explosion hit all the people in its vicinity. This is what we saw and heard."
The head of the Egyptian Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, had been attending mass inside but was not injured.
There are questions about whether the bomber had intended to assassinate him.
Hours earlier, a bomb exploded inside Saint George's Church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, killing several worshippers.
Emile Edward was among the dozens injured in that attack.
"In seconds, it was all dark, and I was completely unaware of what really happened for a few seconds. And then I saw the remains of dead people all over the place."
Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has declared a three-month state of emergency and ordered military deployments across Egypt.
"Security forces are increasing their efforts to catch the assailants and the criminals, and those behind them, so they can be punished."
The self-proclaimed Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both attacks in a statement via its Aamaq news agency.
The group recently warned it would step up its campaign of violence against Egyptian Christians.
Egypt's Coptics are one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East and make up around 10 per cent of the country's population.
They are the largest religious minority in Egypt and have long been a target of those opposing their presence.
The General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain, Anba Angaelos, has told the BBC the Coptic community in Egypt has felt under threat for years but remains resilient.
"It comes at a great cost. More people are dying. More people are suffering for their faith. But people are still faithful, they're still attending churches."
The latest attacks have added to fears that groups such as IS who have long been battling security forces in the Sinai Peninsula are shifting their target to civilians.
Addressing tens of thousands of people in Saint Peter's Square in Rome after his Palm Sunday mass, Pope Francis, due to visit Egypt later this month, has prayed for the victims.
"... and also of the attack carried out today, this morning, in Cairo, in a Coptic Church. To my dear brother, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, to the Coptic Church, and to all the dear Egyptian nation, I express my deep condolences. I pray for the dead and the injured, and I am close in spirit to their families and the entire community. May the Lord convert the hearts of people who sow terror, violence and death and even the hearts of those who produce and traffic in weapons."
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