A vehicle fire damaged the exterior of a Montreal mosque early Friday, but authorities say there is no indication of criminal activity and the cause remains under investigation.
Firefighters were called to the site of the Baitul Mukarram Mosque on de Courtrai Ave. in Côte-des-Neiges around 2 a.m. Friday.
“A complete inspection of the interior of the premises was carried out, and no fire spread inside the building was observed,” the city’s fire department said in a statement provided to The Gazette.
“No one was injured,” the fire department said.
As of Sunday morning, the cause and circumstances of the fire remain undetermined.
Montreal police told The Gazette they were not called to investigate because there was no indication of criminal activity. Police said they had been informed only that a truck beside the mosque had caught fire.
Editor’s Picks
The incident drew attention after Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather wrote on social media Saturday night that the mosque had been damaged in what he described as “another arson attack and hate crime investigation.”
On Saturday, a suspected arson gutted Nöam, a Jewish-owned kosher restaurant on Décarie Blvd. That fire is being investigated by the Montreal police’s arson squad, and investigators have not yet determined a motive.