New York stabbing: Five injured at Hannukah celebration in rabbi's home

Attacker then fled scene by car, police said

A man has stabbed five people at a rabbi’s home in New York state, during Hannukah celebrations, police said.

The attacker then fled by car, police said.

The stabbings happened at around 10 pm in Monsey, one of several Hudson Valley towns that have seen an influx in large numbers of Hasidic Jews in recent years.

Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said hours later that New York City police had located a vehicle and possible suspect being sought in connection with the stabbing.

New York City Police wouldn't immediately confirm whether anyone was in custody.

Weidel said the five people were taken to hospitals for treatment. It is unclear what the extent of their injuries were.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was "deeply disturbed" by the events in Monsey.

"There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation," she said in a Twitter post.

The incident comes as New York City’s police department said on Friday that its officers were stepping up patrols in heavily Jewish neighbourhoods, following a spate of anti-Semitic attacks.

"Hate doesn't have a home in our city," Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter on Friday, calling the assaults attacks on all New Yorkers.

A kosher supermarket was targeted in New Jersey earlier in December, in an attack which left four people dead.

Last year, 11 people were shot dead at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history.

Several state and local officials have described the location of Saturday’s stabbing as a synagogue. The rabbi's home is next door to a synagogue.

Saturday was the seventh night of Hanukkah.

With agencies