Following the explosion outside a synagogue in the south of France on Saturday, the anti-terrorism public prosecutor’s office has taken over the investigation, authorities confirmed to dpa.
The search is still on for the perpetrator, acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said.
Two cars were initially set on fire in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte, a Mediterranean coastal city near Montpellier.
A gas cylinder exploded in one of the vehicles, according to a spokesman for the gendarmerie, a branch of the armed forces responsible for internal security in some areas. A police officer was injured. No one in the building was injured.
Two doors of the synagogue were also set on fire. It is unclear whether this happened before or after the explosion.
France’s acting Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered an immediate increase in the presence of security forces outside Jewish places of worship. He wrote on X of an “apparently criminal attempted arson.” and expressed his full support for the Jewish community.
Attal, writing on X, spoke of an anti-Semitic act. “Once again, our Jewish fellow citizens have been targeted.”
Saturday is the Jewish sabbath and traditionally people attend services then.
Yonathan Arfi, chairman of the umbrella organization of Jewish organizations in France, Crif, wrote that the explosion took place at a time when worshippers were expected to arrive at the synagogue.
“It was not just an attack on a place of worship, it’s an attempt to kill Jews,” he wrote.
Attal and Darmanin are expected to arrive at the scene of the attack this afternoon.
