A police officer has been injured in an explosion outside a synagogue in southern France, as the authorities called the incident a deliberate attack and said security at Jewish institutions would be stepped up.
Police were hunting for a suspect and the antiterrorism prosecutor’s office was put in charge of the investigation, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Saturday.
Two cars outside the synagogue in La Grande-Motte, a Mediterranean coastal city near Montpellier, burst into flames after a gas canister likely exploded inside one of the vehicles, police said.
Local media reported that the incident happened at about 8:30am (06:30 GMT).
“Exploding a gas bottle in a car in front of the Grande Motte synagogue at the expected time of arrival of the faithful: it’s not just attacking a place of worship, it’s an attempt to kill Jews,” Yonathan Arfi, who leads the CRIF, an umbrella organisation of French Jewish groups, said on X.
Two doors of the synagogue were also set on fire. It is unclear whether this happened before or after the explosion.
William Maury, of the police union Alliance Police Nationale, told BFM TV the injured police officer’s life was not in danger.
Police confirmed the attempted arson but declined to give more details.
It was not immediately clear how many people were inside the synagogue at the time. There are no reports of other injuries.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said police protection of synagogues and Jewish schools and shops would be strengthened across France.
He said the incident was being treated as an “attempted arson” that is “clearly a criminal act”.
“I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens of my full support and say that at the request of President Emmanuel Macron all means are being mobilised to find the perpetrator,” Darmanin said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Attal and Darmanin are set to visit the synagogue later on Saturday.
