While details are slim, officials told a local CBS affiliate that somebody “fire-bombed” the building.
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The fire was reported at 12:09 p.m. Friday inside the mosque in the 84600 block of Avenue 49 in Coachella, said Jennifer Fuhrman, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.
Initially reported shortly after 12 p.m. local time, the fire occurred at a mosque belonging to the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The flames were contained to the front lobby of the 1,800-square-foot building, but there was smoke damage throughout the structure, Cal Fire said.
The incident comes nine days after a Muslim couple in San Bernardino, about an hour from Palm Springs, killed 14 people and injured 22 in an assault that is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a terror attack.
Several worshippers gathered outside the mosque in Coachella on Friday expressed fear.
The Islamic Society could not immediately be reached for comment.
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“We feel bad”, said Mohammed Aowishah, who attends the mosque. According to the station, the mosque was also targeted by a shooter in 2014, but the suspect in that incident was never caught.
