WITNESSES to Friday’s murderous attack on a Coptic Christian church in the Cairo suburb of Helwan painted a picture of Christian-Muslim unity yesterdayday, describing joint action against a gunman.

They made clear that it was residents and worshippers, not police, who kept the death toll from soaring even higher.

One man in particular, 53-year-old Muslim resident Salah el-Mougi, who pounced on the gunman as he was reloading his automatic rifle, could well have saved dozens of lives.

The gunman, who killed nine people, including worshippers and police assigned to protect the Mar Mina church, was captured by civilians and held until further police arrived, shot him and took him into custody.

Worshippers slammed the church's iron gate shut to prevent the assailant from entering and killing more people.

Courageous residents then pelted the gunman with rocks as he fled the church, still firing until he paused to reload and was tackled by Mr Mougi.