Another old African-American church in the US state of South Carolina - the old Mount Zion Baptist Church in Williamsburg County was in flames the previous evening, 20 years since it was burned to the ground by members of the racist Ku Klux Klan.
Williamsburg County Fire Chief Randy Swinton told NBC News that it was not known if the fire was set intentionally and noted that a storm had passed through the area where the church was burning "around the same time the fire was reported."
Swinton confirmed that 8.000 square meters of the church was completely destroyed.
There were no injuries, but local media reported that the church was destroyed, that the cause of the fire was unknown and that the investigation was ongoing.
The fire comes amid an ongoing investigation into the fire at Glover Grove Baptist Church in Warrenville, South Carolina, days after nine people were killed at Emanuel Church in Charleston, sparking concerns that the incidents were racially motivated, according to NBS News.
The fire at Mount Zion Church, founded more than 110 years ago, is the second in 20 years, since the church burned to the ground in June 1995 when two Ku Klux Klan members pleaded guilty the following year.
The church was rebuilt and then US President Bill Clinton attended the laying of the foundation stone in the restoration of the church a year later.
Bonus video:
