Muslim prayer hall in France damaged

A crowd vandalised a Muslim prayer room in Corsica a day after an ambush injured two firefighters responding to an emergency in a housing project, the state prefect on the French island said on Saturday. Prefect Christophe Mirmand said police reinforcements were being called into the Corsican capital of Ajaccio from mainland France, and prayer rooms and mosques were being guarded. Two separate investigations were opened, one into the attack on firefighters on Thursday and the other into the damage to the prayer room yesterday (Friday), he said. Tensions were high on the Mediterranean island, widely known in France as the Isle of Beauty. The violence began on Thursday night, when firefighters responding to an emergency call were ambushed in a housing project in the hills of Ajaccio. It was not clear what prompted that violence.