LONDON: Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community emergency service were set ablaze in the Golders Green area of north London. Police are treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime, according to local media reports.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police were called to Highfield Road at around 1.45 a.m. on Monday (local time) following reports of a fire. Authorities later confirmed that the incident is being investigated as a targeted hate crime, according to The Guardian.
The London Fire Brigade said six fire engines and nearly 40 firefighters were deployed to contain the blaze, which caused damage to four vehicles.
Officials added that several cylinders inside the ambulances exploded during the fire, leading to shattered windows in a nearby residential building. No injuries were reported in the initial response.