The synagogue has been set on fire and one police officer injured after a the suspected arson attack was followed by an explosion in the seaside town of La Grand Motte, France
A synagogue has been set ablaze and a police officer left injured after a suspected arson attack at the Beth Yacov synagogue at the resort of La Grand Motte in France.
Reports online suggest a gas cylinder may have been used to start the blaze and local police have confirmed they are hunting a suspect. Firefighters, the municipal police and the gendarmerie rushed to the scene after the fire was reported around 8.40am local time on Saturday.
Emergency services found two doors of the building up in smoke and two vehicles also alight. One police officer was then taken to hospital after being thrown to the ground by a sudden explosion.
CCTV images showed a suspicious individual leaving the scene shortly before the start of the incident, reported BFM TV. A gas bottle was found inside one of the cars.
Efforts have continued throughout the morning to bring the fire under control. No injuries have been reported from inside the synagogue, and it is not known how many people were there at the time.
An investigating source said: “The alarm was raised at around 8.30am. There was at least one violent explosion, and flames touched the door of the synagogue. A gas bottle was clearly stored in one of two cars parked directly outside the synagogue, and that’s what caused the explosion. A policeman who attempted to secure the area was badly injured and rushed to hospital.”
Tensions have risen in France in recent months, along with anti-Semitic incidents, because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East. France contains the largest Jewish community in Europe, made up of around 500,000 people. Security is now being toughened up at synagogues across France in wake of the latest incident.
The seaside town of La Grande-Motte is around 11 miles southeast of Montpellier. Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, who is due to go to the scene in the afternoon, described the blaze at the synagogue as a “manifestly criminal” act. “I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens and the community of my full support and say that at the request of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, all means are being mobilized to find the perpetrator”, he said.
Hussein Bourgi, socialist senator for nearby Hérault, said on X (formerly Twitter): “I would like to express all my solidarity with the Jewish community of La Grande Motte as well as its president, Sabine Atlan.” The head representative of the Herault prefecture meanwhile tweeted from the local government’s official account: “I denounce in the strongest terms the events that took place this morning at the synagogue in La Grande Motte. I have asked the police and gendarmes to strengthen the security of Jewish interests in the department. I am going to the scene.”
Earlier this year, French police shot dead an armed man who set fire to a synagogue in the city of Rouen, Normandy. He had attempted to set on fire the city’s main synagogue and tried to threaten officers when confronted.
