United States

"We have no word yet on his fate or the reason behind the crash," Brig. Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim told The Associated Press. "We are in contact with the Americans to get more details."

Ibrahim confirmed the pilot is Brig. Gen. Rafid Mohammed Hassan but said the pilot's fate still is not known. He said the rescue operation is difficult because the plane hit a gas pipeline in a rural area.

City police chief Gregory Mullen said eight of the victims were killed inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Thursday evening, while another person died shortly afterwards.

Police are now searching for a white male suspect in his 20s.

"I do believe it was a hate crime," Mr Mullen said.

"The past eight days have been interesting and we knew we were taking a chance with the weather and late season, concerned more about the weather upon arrival in California in the fall," Sonya Baumstein's expedition support team said in a statement early Monday.

The 30-year-old Baumstein departed from Choshi, Japan, one week ago, heading for San Francisco, California, in hopes of becoming the first woman to row solo across the Pacific.

The AP traced at least 50 aircraft back to the FBI, and identified more than 100 flights in 11 states over a 30-day period since late April, orbiting both major cities and rural areas. At least 115 planes, including 90 Cessna aircraft, were mentioned in a federal budget document from 2009.