'I do believe this was a hate crime'

Nine people have died in a shooting at a historic African-American church in Charleston in the US state of South Carolina, officials say.

Police said eight of the victims were killed inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Thursday evening, while another person died shortly afterwards. They are now searching for a white male suspect in his 20s.

At a news conference, Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen and the city's mayor Joe Riley explained how they were treating their investigation.