Local sources have reported that a Chechen family’s home was set on fire in Belgium.

On June 14, about 8.15am, a house on Kalishoek Street in the town of Melsele, which is within the municipality of Beveren in the Belgian province of East Flanders, was set on fire. A passerby on the road noticed flames on the roof of the house and rang the bell to inform the family. The Chechen residents of the house, who were unware of the fire, left immediately. The fire quickly reached the ground. Firemen arrived at the scene quickly, but it was too late to save the top floor of the house.

According to sources, a Chechen couple with four children lived in the house for two years. None of them were injured in the fire but the house is now uninhabitable.

The investigators could not yet identify the cause of the fire, whether it was racially or financially motivated. It turns out that the owner of the house was a nun who was renting to the Chechen asylum seekers. She passed away some time ago and her relatives were trying to sell the house.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco