Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday condemned the early morning attack on a synagogue in Melbourne that caused extensive damage, calling it an “outrage.”
Police in the state of Victoria said arson and explosives investigators were at the scene of a suspicious fire at the Adass Israel Synagogue in the Ripponlea area of Melbourne’s south-east. The city is the capital of the southern Australian state of Victoria.
“This is outrageous,” Albanese told ABC Melbourne radio. “Violence and intimidation and destruction of a place of worship is something we should never see in Australia. It puts lives at risk, it is clearly intended to create fear in the community.”
Authorities received a call around 4:10 a.m. Friday (1710 Thursday GMT) that two men inside the synagogue had poured liquid on the floor, police said.
The worshiper interrupted them and they fled, said the police. The man who confronted the two was reportedly injured in the hand and was treated at the scene, police reported. No other injuries were reported but there was extensive damage to the building.
“There was a knock on the door and liquid was thrown inside and it caught fire, several people inside the synagogue ran out the back door, one of them was burned,” Adass Israel Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein told ABC news.
Klein told the ABC he believed the fire had destroyed “a lot of furniture and holy books and Torah scrolls”.
“It’s scary and the community is scared about it,” he said.
Source link
