A large blaze that engulfed a synagogue in south Melbourne is being treated as suspicious by police, following reports that two men broke in, doused the building with petrol, and set it on fire.’
Around 60 firefighters and 17 trucks were called to the Adass Israel synagogue at Ripponlea in Glen Eira around 4.18am on Friday.
Jewish leader Benjamin Klein at Ripponlea in Melbourne right now. Good morning. Your community obviously in shock at this. What do you think happened?we are. Hard to say exactly what’s happened. Waiting for the police to give us some reports. From what we understand, two people came to the synagogue about 4:30, quarter to 5 this morning, chucked some petrol inside and lit it and everyone’s reeling from this horrendous tragedy.talk us through the community response. The community has been absolutely shaken. Every morning about 200 to 300 people come through the synagogue. They’ve arrived this morning to see a damaged sining no. It’s the jewel in the crown of the
community. It’s horrendous to see the jewel looking the way it is.do you expect something like this to happen in australia?we don’t. We live so far away from anything that goes on in the rest of the world. We are a very quiet, peaceful community. We have our heads down, we pray, we learn. We’re a very quiet community and don’t expect like this to happen within our community in Australia. It’s a very nice, peaceful, quiet place.we don’t know the motivations behind this but the people that are responsible, what’s your message for them?the message I guess is that nobody will come and take us. We’re here. We’ve been here for a long time. We will continue to be here. It’s a tragedy and difficult but we will rebuild and we will be bigger and greater than ever. We are a peaceful, quiet community and also very grateful to the police, the fire brigade, the ambulance, thank you to everybody for their support during such a trying time. We will come out of this bigger and stronger
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nd greater than ever. We are a peaceful, quiet community and also very grateful to the police, the fire brigade, the ambulance, thank you to everybody for their support during such a trying time. We will come out of this bigger and
Fire Rescue Victoria’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer Brayden Sinnamon said the 30m by 20m building was ‘fully involved’ in the fire and the blaze severity was escalated, with crews using breathing apparatus.
He said two people were evacuated with minor injuries but no other properties were damaged.
The fire has been deemed suspicious, with Victoria Police launching an investigation.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare speculated that the incident was not an accident.
‘It’s pretty clear from your reporting that this is no accident, that this is a deliberate act of violence, an attack on a place of worship, and let’s call it out,’ he told 7 News’ Sunrise program.
‘This is the absolute opposite of what Australia is all about.’
Liberal frontbencher Sussan Ley said the incident was ‘very, very concerning’, adding: ‘It makes me feel quite sick to the stomach.’
‘I feel for the Jewish community today waking up to this news.’
Police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward with information or dash cam/CCTV footage.
The train level crossing at Glen Eira Road was blocked during the incident but has since opened.
