"The fire could be criminal, according to the first information given to me by the firefighters and the police," the mayor Les Républicains of the 2nd arrondissement Pierre Olivier told AFP. The disaster would have been declared shortly after midnight Wednesday, according to a resident. The rapid intervention of firefighters ensured that there were no victims, welcomed the elected. The fire blackened the door of the Essalam prayer room, located in a small complex of recently renovated social housing in the 2nd arrondissement.
No casualties
According to an AFP journalist on site, the damage was limited to the door and the entrance hall. While a strong smell of burning still hung over the place, two worshipers were clearing the ashes in front of the door. "It's just the door that burned. Fortunately the fire did not affect the neighbors above," said Naaman Amaamin, 75, one of the mosque's volunteers.
Second fire in a week
The secretary general of the Abderrazak Chenini mosque has announced his intention to file a complaint. Last Friday, a local annex to the prayer room in Bron, in the suburbs of Lyon, was damaged by a fire probably of criminal origin, according to the prosecution. On Twitter, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin condemned this new attempted fire in the Lyon area. "Anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian acts: these stupid and hateful acts are contrary to everything France is. I will protect freedom of worship", he assured.
I condemn the attempted fire last night in the Essalam mosque in Lyon, the 2nd this week. Anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian acts: these stupid and hateful acts are contrary to everything France is. I will protect freedom of worship.
- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 13, 2020"A few days after Bron, the Muslim community is in turmoil at the proliferation of these acts of hatred and intolerance", denounced to AFP Abdallah Zekri, president of the National Observatory for the fight against Islamophobia and delegate General of the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM). "I can only strongly condemn such actions and address all my solidarity to the inhabitants of Lyon, still in shock at what happened in Bron," he added.