The Manchester synagogue terror attack – Today in Focus Extra

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:08This afternoon, an update on the synagogue attack in Manchester.

0:23Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is one of the most sacred and solemn days in the Jewish calendar. It's a day to reflect on the past year and to ask God for his forgiveness. At Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in North Manchester this morning, as in synagogues all around the world, Jews had gathered in prayer to atone and repent. And then the very worst happened. Something that they'd long been dreading. A violent and deadly assault on their community. what appears to be the worst anti-Semitic attack in Britain in living memory. Move back!

1:02Josh Halliday:Get away! Don't be staying tight with you! Everybody else! He has a ball! Go away! He's got a bubble! He's got a bubble! From The Guardian, I'm Helen Pitt. Today in Focus Extra. On the ground in Manchester after the Yom Kippur attack.

1:24Josh Halliday, you're The Guardian's North of England editor and have been on the scene in Crumpsall in North Manchester all day. We really, really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us because I know it's an incredibly hectic and a really upsetting day. Tell us, where are you right now? Yeah, so at the minute I'm stood about 500 metres away from one end of the police cordon. There's a large group of members of the Jewish community who've gathered. A lot of them are waiting for news, very anxious, general members of the public as well. I mean, we should stress this is a very fast-moving situation.

2:01We're talking to you just before 2pm on Thursday afternoon. The police are still working out what happened. But what do we know so far? We know so far that police had declared a major incident shortly after 9.30 this morning to reports that a man had driven a car into a group of people near the synagogue and began stabbing people with a knife. It seems like armed police got there really quickly and shot the man. Yeah, and as we're talking, Greater Manchester Police have confirmed that he died at the scene, but it took them quite a long time to ascertain that, didn't it? That's because he was wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt or some kind of explosive device.

2:48Police and the Army Bomb Disposal Unit are currently assessing that device, as far as we can tell. We heard a loud bang around quarter to one. Police have not confirmed that was a controlled explosion, but we do know that the Army's Bomb Disposal Unit, including the Bomb Disposal Robot, have been at the scene for a good couple of hours now. Right, and police have confirmed so far that two Jewish people were killed in this attack. in addition to the suspect who was shot by the police. Do we know anything at all about who these people were or what they were doing at the synagogue? That's right, police have confirmed that two people have died and other people are believed to be seriously injured.

3:28We don't yet know their connection to the synagogue. We don't know if they were worshipping there. We don't know if they were members of the public walking past. We know very little so far. It's still very early days. Stephen Watson, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police has said that four other people were seriously injured and are being treated in hospital Do we know anything yet about the suspect? I don't think we know anything yet about the suspect There's a video that was circulating online very soon after the attack which appears to show a male lying on the ground after being shot by armed police I'm not sure we have an identity yet There will be pictures and names, no doubt, circulating very soon, later today.

4:14Do we know whether the synagogue was full with worshippers, people praying on this special day? So Greater Manchester Police have said that there were a large number of worshippers at the synagogue when this happened. And once the incident appeared to be brought under control, they were eventually allowed to leave. some of those are still at the police cordon but many of those have made their way away from the area obviously this was on Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year for people of the Jewish faith there would have been lots of people making their way to the synagogue at that time around 9.30 this morning and it's left people extremely frightened and shaken I'm sure And this afternoon, the National Head of Counterterrorism Policing has confirmed that this is a terrorist incident.

5:04They believe they know the suspect's identity. They haven't released it yet. And they said that two arrests have been made. I guess we will find out much more very soon. But you were on the ground within an hour of all of this happening because you live not too far away in North Manchester. I can only imagine people are incredibly shocked there. What have they been telling you? People have just been in complete disbelief. To be honest, this is a very diverse area of Greater Manchester. You have a large Jewish community and you also have a large Muslim community. And, you know, they live harmoniously side by side and have done for decades.

5:42So people, you know, are really frightened for themselves, for what's to come. It's kind of unbelievable to people, really. I was speaking to a journalist who lives opposite the synagogue who works for a newspaper based in Israel. And he was saying these covered war zones all over the world, attacks on synagogues and Jewish people all over the world, and never thought he would have to do it on his doorstep. There seems to have been an uptick in anti-Semitic violence over the last two years since the Hamas attack on October 7th and Israel's bombardment in Gaza. That's been happening all over the country, not just in this part of Manchester.

6:25I don't think this part of Manchester has seen any greater number of anti-Semitic attacks than anywhere else. I mean, I was speaking to a member of the Jewish community who lives near the synagogue, who had friends and family there this morning, and she said she doesn't believe there'd been any kind of warning sign of an attack, or that people didn't feel under threat here. You know, this feels like a very safe, quiet place. So it feels at the minute like that's changed very much today. I guess it's what Jews in Britain have been dreading for a long time and the nightmare has actually happened today.

7:03Yeah, it's really shocking. I'm sure synagogues across the country would have been busy today. I'm sure there'll be a heightened sense of worry, anxiety. It's completely overshadowed. You know, what's a really special day in the Jewish calendar? And it will take a long time to sort of understand what's happened and recover, I'm sure.

7:30That was Josh Halliday, The Guardian's North of England editor. You can stay across this story as more information comes in at theguardian.com. And that is all for now. This episode was produced by Eli Block and Courtney Youssef and presented by me, Helen Pidd. Sound design was by Eli Block and the executive producers were Khmer Khalili and Sammy Kent. We'll be back tomorrow.

7:56Josh Halliday:This is The Guardian.