Two people were killed and three seriously injured Thursday outside a busy synagogue in Manchester, England, celebrating Yom Kippur, in an attack that left the suspect dead.

Greater Manchester Police announced that two people were killed in the "terrorist attack," carried out by a man with a vehicle and a bladed weapon outside the Heaton Park Synagogue in Crumpsall, a district in the north of Greater Manchester.

She later confirmed that the suspect was also dead, shot dead by law enforcement.

He was carrying "suspicious objects" and a bomb disposal team intervened and also inspected his vehicle.

The "many people" present in the synagogue at the time of the tragedy were initially confined there but have since been evacuated, according to the same source.

Police reported being called to the building around 9:30 a.m. (8:30 GMT) after a witness saw "a car driving into people and a man being stabbed."

According to witnesses who contacted the police, "a security guard was stabbed with a knife."

A significant security presence has been deployed on the street near the synagogue, an AFP photographer present at the scene pointed out.

Members of the Jewish community gathered near the place of worship, some to pray.

Chava Lewin, a neighbor who witnessed the attack, told the PA news agency that she saw a man "start stabbing people near him. He attacked the security guard and tried to get into the synagogue (...) someone barricaded the door, everyone was very shocked."

- "Horrified" -

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said he was "horrified," cut short his presence at the European Political Community summit in Copenhagen to return to the UK and chair an emergency government meeting.

"Additional police resources" are being deployed to ensure the security of synagogues across the UK, he also announced before leaving Denmark.

King Charles III said he was "deeply shocked and saddened."

The Israeli embassy in the UK condemned the attack as "abhorrent and deeply disturbing."

This occurred on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the holiest in Judaism. During this holiday, believers usually go to the synagogue several times to pray.

The Jewish population in Greater Manchester was estimated at around 28,000 in 2021, according to the British organization Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

The Jewish organization Community Security Trust (CST) described the attack as "appalling."

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced an "anti-Semitic terrorist attack" on the same social network, while European Council President Antonio Costa expressed his "solidarity against anti-Semitism and hatred in all its forms."

The UK has seen an increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in recent years, peaking on 7 October 2023.

The CST recorded 1,521 in the first six months of 2025, down from the record 2,019 in the first half of 2024.

However, this year's figure is the second highest ever recorded, said the charity, which has been monitoring anti-Semitism in Britain since 1984.

The attack also comes just days before the second anniversary of Hamas' deadly assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,219 dead, mostly civilians, according to a tally compiled by AFP based on official data.

In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip that left 66,055 dead, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.