LONDON — An arson attack on several ambulances from a Jewish volunteer service is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, police in London said Monday.
Authorities are searching for three people who appear to be seen in CCTV video pouring accelerant onto the vehicles before igniting them and fleeing.
The attack took place in Golders Green, a north London suburb that is home to several synagogues and dozens of Jewish schools and restaurants. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it “a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack.”
It damaged four vehicles belonging to the volunteer organization Hatzola Northwest, with “multiple cylinders on the vehicles” exploding, causing windows to break in nearby buildings, the London Fire Brigade said in a statement.
London's Metropolitan Police also said they were aware of explosions linked to the gas canisters on the ambulances. No arrests have been made, and no one was injured, police said.
Social media videos verified by NBC News showed massive flames rising from the ambulances as they burned, with the fire sending up thick plumes of smoke. Another video showed an explosion erupting as firefighters worked to douse the flames.
While it has not been declared an act of terrorism at this stage, the investigation is now being led by counterterrorism policing, Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said.
“We are aware of an online claim from a group taking responsibility for this attack. Establishing the authenticity and accuracy of this claim will be a priority for the investigation team, but it is not something we can confirm at this point,” he added, without naming the group.
In a later statement, Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said an analysis of CCTV video “shows three people in hoods pouring an accelerant onto the vehicles” before “igniting them and fleeing.”
The fire brigade said it received the first of 56 emergency calls around 1:40 a.m. (9:40 p.m. ET Sunday) and dispatched six fire engines and around 40 firefighters.
The fire was brought under control shortly after 3 a.m. local time, it said.
Michigan synagogue suspect seen buying fireworks before attack
A policing plan focused on key community locations across the area is underway, Williams said, and it will continue beyond the coming days, as Passover, a major Jewish holiday, approaches in early April.
“My thoughts are with the Jewish community who are waking up this morning to this horrific news,” Starmer said on X. “Antisemitism has no place in our society. Anyone with any information must come forward to the police.”
Hatzola Northwest was established as a nonprofit organization in 1979 to provide free emergency medical services to residents of North London. According to its website, it works closely with national emergency services and area hospitals and responds to thousands of calls a year, “from minor injuries to life-threatening conditions.”
U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the attack was “a particularly sickening assault — not only on the Jewish community, but on the values we share as a society.” The Hatzola volunteer ambulance corps is “an extraordinary service, whose sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike,” he added on X.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Monday morning that four replacement ambulances will be provided until permanent replacements can be found, according to the BBC, saying the attack struck at the “heart of London's Jewish community.”
The Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, Sarah Sackman, called on X for the perpetrators of what she said was a “despicable, cowardly, antisemitic arson attack” in her area in to feel “the full force of the law.”
The number of antisemitic incidents reported in Britain has surged since the Israel-Hamas war began in late 2023, including attacks on synagogues. The Community Security Trust, a British charity that works to protect the country’s Jewish population, recorded 3,700 incidents last year, compared with 1,662 in 2022.
In October, two people were killed and three others were seriously injured when a man rammed a car into a crowd and stabbed people at a synagogue in Manchester in what police declared a terrorist attack.
About 15,000 people live in Golders Green, half of whom are Jewish, according to 2021 census data.
Yuliya Talmazan reported from London and Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong.
