ARSON ATTACK
Cops launch ‘terror probe’ as explosions rip through synagogue in French hols hotspot injuring police officer
A police officer was rushed to hospital after he was injured by the blast
FRENCH cops have launched a terror probe after two cars were set ablaze at a synagogue, sparking explosions in a holiday hotspot.
It's believed flames came into contact with a gas bottle stored in one of the cars, causing a blow that injured a police officer who was already on-scene.
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The explosion occurred in La Grande-Motte, the southern seaside resort close to Montpellier, on Sunday morning.
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.
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"A policeman who attempted to secure the area was badly injured and rushed to hospital."
The officer was rushed to a hospital in Montpelier after being knocked to the ground in the blast as he was securing the perimeter of the building.
Firefighters raced to the scene, and by 10am the fire had been brought under control. No other injuries have been reported.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the situation was being dealt with by specialist anti-terrorist prosecutors.
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He said: "Police are currently looking for suspects, and reporting to anti-terrorist prosecutors."
Mr Darmanin called for the "immediate reinforced protection" of all Jewish places of worship in France.
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In a statement on X, he said a "clear criminal attack’" had taken place in La Grande-Motte.
He wrote: "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 mobilised to find the perpetrator."
Local media reported an intruder had broken into the synagogue, while CCTV showed an individual leaving the scene shortly before the incident.
Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) meanwhile described "an attempt to kill Jews".
He said a gas cylinder was detonated "in front of the synagogue of La Grande-Motte at the expected time of arrival of worshippers".
The French government has regularly denounced an increase in anti-Semitic acts as tension continues to rise amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
In May, an Algerian immigrant who was in France illegally was shot dead by police after throwing a Molotov Cocktail through a synagogue window.
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That same month, a Holocaust memorial in Paris was defaced with red hands in an apparent reference to the rising civilian death toll in Gaza.
Hussein Bourgi, a Socialist Senator in the Hérault department, where La Grande-Motte is situated, said: "I would like to express my full solidarity with the Jewish community of La Grande Motte as well as its president, Sabine Atlan."
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