BERLIN: Two people were killed in shooting attacks on a synagogue and a kebab bistro in the eastern German city of Halle on Wednesday and one suspect was arrested, but two others fled in a hijacked a car, officials said.
The violence occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism when Jews fast for 25 hours, seeking atonement.
The two suspects on the loose headed out on a motorway that leads to Munich in the country’s south, according to the mayor of the town of Landsberg, adjacent to Halle. Gunfire was also heard in Landsberg, Focus Online reported.
A spokeswoman for the Halle municipal government said one shooting took place in front of the synagogue on Humboldt street and its accompanying cemetery, while the second burst of gunfire targeted the kebab shop in the city in the province of Saxony.
Another city spokesman said an emergency situation has been declared and all residents advised to remain at home.
He said emergency services and police were evacuating people from the synagogue. The spokesman declined to give an estimate of how many people were in the Jewish house of prayer at the time.
