Three Coptic Egyptian monks were killed in a “criminal assault” inside a Coptic monastery in South Africa, the Christian Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt said.

“Three monks were subjected to a criminal assault inside our Coptic monastery,” the spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Church said.

One of the three monks killed was a representative of the Coptic Diocese of South Africa.

An internal investigation has been launched, the statement added, and the Egyptian ambassador to Johannesburg, where the monastery is based, has been informed.