Eleven people have been killed, officials say, in a gun attack on a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The gunman, who opened fire as the Tree of Life synagogue held a service, was later taken into custody.

President Donald Trump said "a lot of people" had been killed and injured in a "wicked act of mass murder".

The suspect, who has been officially identified as Robert Bowers, 46, was injured and is receiving treatment.

Two other people are in hospital in a critical condition, police said.

Federal investigators are treating the shooting as a hate crime.

The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish non-governmental organisation that fights anti-Semitism, said: "We believe this is the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States."

Hundreds of people - from the neighbourhood and also all across Pittsburgh - later gathered for an interfaith vigil for the victims of the attack in Squirrel Hill.

Sophia Levin, a local resident and one of the organisers, told the BBC some people were "really sad" and the mood was "heavy".

But she added that people also wanted to be "together, not alone", and the vigil would help heal the city.

President Trump said he would visit Pittsburgh, following the attack.

BBC Online

BDST: 1014 HRS, OCT 28, 2018
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