Hawzah News Agency (Culemborg, Netherlands) – An Islamic centre has been torched to the ground by a suspected arsonist as emergency services desperately try to save anyone who may have been trapped inside.

Fire crews and police are desperately trying to extinguish the blaze, which has engulfed the entire building.

Police reported that the fire appears to have been started deliberately by an arsonist and it has spread across two buildings, both of which are known to contain asbestos.

The site, formerly a public swimming baths, was bought earlier this year by the Association of Islamic Communities in Culemborg, which had submitted plans to turn the building into a mosque.

There is an existing prayer room at the rear of the building and it is not clear whether anyone was using that at the time of the suspected attack.

It is not clear if anyone has been injured in the blaze or if any arrests have been made.

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