an arrest warrant issued for the sunken ferry. all 260 people are still missing. hello. you're watching al jazeera. also on the show, mexico's shaken by a powerful earthquake, one of the biggest in years. three days of mourning declared in colombia after one of the world's most influential writers dies at the age of 87. tragedy on the world's highest mountain.

rescue efforts on everest have been suspended for the night after an avalanche killed at least 12 people. prosecutors in south korea have demanded the rest of the captain of the ferry that sank two days ago. so far 28 people have been confirmed dead but 260 are still missing, most of them high school students. we have the report. >> reporter: heading out on a foggy day to the focal point of an enormous rescue operation. emerging out of the blue dozens upon dozens of vessels and at the center of it all the tiny part of this 150-meter long ferry breaking the surface. it's just after 9:00 a.m. local time. we're approaching the period whether rescue officials said the tides would be suitable to try another dive. a lot of activity around of the

upturned hull right now. as the day wore on and the ferry was completely submerged, diverers went down on ten separate occasions. they managed to secure a guide rope and pump air through the wheelhouse and access the second floor cargo hold, but they were forced back by obstacles and fast-moving currents. preparations are underway for the longer term with the arrival of four huge floating cranes to be used. on land south korea's prime minister arrived to take personal charge of the effort. much of the information made public is still contradictionary. a police officer said friday's first attempt to get underwater access failed. then a friendly chat with the man from the maritime ministry, and he was back to say divers had been down and attached a guide rope. we tried to establish while on thursday officials said oxygen was pumped in before admitting it wasn't. one of the many questions left unanswered. some families feel lied to,

others for the activity. too little effort is made to get into the ship, angered, too, at the captain and crew. >> translator: if the captain acted properly, many kids could still be alive. it hurts. it really hurts. >> reporter: al jazeera's south korean partner network gave exclusive footage of the captain as he came ashore. the 69-year-old was reportedly one of the first to leave the ship. the news channel said he failed to identify himself as the captain when he was rescued. prosecutors say he left the helm in the charge of a 26-year-old third officer with less than a year's experience before the accident. they issued arrest warrants for the captain and two other crew members. back on the island, there's so much grief police made another awful discovery. the 52-year-old vice president on the school trip with 325 of his students rescued from the ferry hanged himself near the

gymnasium housing the relatives. inside the hall deepening sadness and tension on display between parents who say the time has come to accept that their children are dead and others refusing to give up hope. as the waters rise over the ship, those hopes are ebbing away. >> adrian brown has more on the search and rescue effort. >> this rescue operation is starting to make headway. divers after ten attempts were able to enter the vessel and got into the wheelhouse and a cargo area and were able to pump oxygen into the vessel. this is an indication that rescuers still believe there is a chance that there is still survivors on board this vessel, which is now almost totally submerged. they saw no bodies. the operation has been continuing overnight, and it will keep going because the president of south korea has

said it's time to hurry up. that's a real reminder that this is a race against time. on shore there was more tragedy whether it emerged that the deputy principal of the school that most of the pupils came from, remember, there are still some 250 or so pupils who are unaccounted for. the vice principal was one of those that survived. today, he took his life. that has added another layer of tragedy to this already tragic tale. an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 hit mexico. the u.s. geological survey says the epicenter was around 50 kilometers east of the coastal town of petatlan. rachel joins us live from mexico city. what more information is coming in now, rachel? >> reporter: what we're hearing is there's damage to some buildings in the coastal town of

acapulco. that's a major tourist destination. we'd like to remind our viewers it is holy week in mexico, so a lot of people have gone to the coast to have vacation with their families. but we have so far not heard or had any confirmation of any deaths or injuries. we also felt that tremor all the way here in the capital of mexico city. buildings shook for about 90 seconds. people ran out into the streets panicked. many people in their pajamas, but so far the city has now returned back to normal, and no major structural damage is reported here either. >> let's hope that theme continues throughout the day. thanks so much, rachel there in mexico city. algeria's interior minister says the president has won a fourth term in office with a landslide 81% of the vote. >> translator: after 10,292,029

voters, the result is for the president who gets 8,332,598. that represents 81.53% of the valid votes. number two, mr. ali got 1,244,918 votes with 12.18%. the third was 343,624 votes, and that's 3.36%. there have been celebrations from the president's supporters, but the opposition says the vote was rigged. this was the scene in the village of rafor east of the capital. hundreds of young people fought with police after trying to disrupt polling at several stations. let me read you one of the most famous opening lines in literature. many years later as he faced the firing squad. the kcornelkor colonel to remes

afternoon. this is how marquez began his novel. the tributes are flying in from around the world after he passed away at the age of 87. harry smith reports. >> reporter: in the small town they lit candles and laid flowers at his childhood home. colombia's president declared three days of national mourning and ordered flags to be lowered in his honor. if gabriel garcia marquez seen here recently celebrating his 87th birthday was not just his country's most famous son. he achieved something few writers have done. he put south american literature on the world stage and changed the literary landscape of the spanish language. it was a status recognized in 1982 whether he won the nobel prize for literature. an award he treasured but insisted it wouldn't change his

unique outlook on life. >> the nobel prize is something that happened to colombia, something that happened to latin america, that happened to the world. here in this house we're all the same people. >> reporter: he started out as a newspaper reporter and journalism remained a passion throughout his life, as did support for left wing politics. he was a close friend of cuba's communist leader fidel castro. it was that mix of real life and bizarre that gave birth to the literary genre known as magic realism. it reached its people in popularity in the most famous novel "100 years of saolitudsol" it tells the events in a small town remarkably similar to where he grew up. >> nothing will change the fact he took more than 20 countries' literature and with a sing book, "100 years of solitude" created these forces that made it available to the rest of the world.

>> reporter: garcia marquez died in mexico city where he lived for more than 30 years. there will be a private cremation there followed by a public ceremony on monday in the city's palace of fine arts. as tributes poured in from around the world, colombia's president said 1,000 years of loneliness and sadness for the death of the greatest colombian of all time. u.s. president barack obama said the world has lost one of its greatest visionary writers and one of my favorites from the time i was young. the chilean writer indi said in his books i found my own family, my country, the people i have known all my life, the color, the rhythm and the abundance of my continent. his books have been translated into 30 languages and sold millions of copies around the world.

earlier i spoke to ariel dorffman, he's a novelist, pl playwright and person friend of him. he said he encapsulated the latin-american nation. >> he brought together the fabulous and real, and he was visionary. he was visionary. he was also very humorous. he had a great sense of humor, and he was a great observer. i can remember once when we brought somebody, he was very much for the chilean cause, for the chile, and we brought in a clandestine leader from chile, and this leader said i want to meet garcia marquez. i arranged for an interview. gabo sat down, and as soon as this man came in, gabo began speaking to him and the mangan speaking, and he began taking all sorts of notes. he said what are you doing?

oh, i'm a journalist. i'm a journalist of this moment and i'm a journalist of the fabulous reality of latin america. >> he sounds how you describe it as a very humble, down-to-earth sort of guy. what was he like as a human being, as a man since you were his friend? i read things about how he, for example, struggled with policy for most of his life. surprising, isn't it? >> a good part of his life. he was poor when he wrote "100 years of solitude." he wrote it for 18 months and his wife pawned every last thing inside the house to get him through. he was very humble in that sense. at the same time, he was very clear about his genius, his capacity to really tell these stories that were stories not only of latin america or the little town he was from or kwlufrp ya but the whole of the world in some sense, and we're all looking at the problems of

death and love. he managed to do that. i think that he was also very fascinated with power, and he had a sort of slight arrogance to him in that sense. so he was both humble and arroga arrogant. i don't know if that's a strange combination, but he was always very, very, very generous. incredibly generous, you know? i have another anecdote. when i met him in bars loan any he was friends with the other nobel prizewinner. they had a falling out. he said you have to see him. i'll take him. don't worry. you said, you know what? don't tell anybody, but what i'd love to be if i wasn't a writer is a taxi driver. i've heard all sorts of stories i would have been free instead of behind my desk. by then he was very famous. this was a man who had deep roots in everyday reality. to think he was only a

fabulousist is to miss the point how much he became the voice of ordinary latin-americans. i remember when i first read "100 years of solitude," i thought this is the greatest novel. in fact, there's never been another novel like that. after all cervantes created the novel that was the modern world. he encapsulated latin america and world fascination. it's a tremendously grievous moment he isn't with us, but a wonderful moment we could share his life and in the case of humanity to share forever his work. >> more to come on the show. ukraine's unrest shows no sign of abating as protesters continue to occupy buildings despite the international agreement reached on thursday. freedom of the press or free tom to encite violence. they say more regulation is

needed.

welcome back. let's recap the headlines here on al jazeera now. prosecutors in south korea have demanded the arrest of the captain of the ferry that sank two days ago. so far 28 people have been confirmed dead. more than 260 are still missing, though, and most of them are high school students. algeria's president has won a fourth term in office with 81% of the vote according to preliminary results.

second place took 12%. he's rejecting the result, though. an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 hit mexico. the u.s. geological survey says it was about 50 miles east of the town of petatlan. there's no known casualties but damage to buildings. an international agreement to end the crisis in eastern ukraine is being rejected by pro-russians who have occupied government buildings for days now. it's unclear how the deal will be enforced if the gunmen refuse to put down their weapons. here's the story. >> reporter: ukraine's eastern city of dansk, protesters insist they aren't going anywhere. the barricades are still up and the pro-russian activists say they do not recognize the international deal to end want the crisis. >> translator: the deal covers all the buildings occupied

recently. we absolutely agree with this, but everyone has to leave the buildings including the prime minister and acting president who illegally occupied their place after a military coup. >> reporter: pro-russian groups have occupied public buildings in about ten towns and cities including here. an agreement signed by russian, ukraine, the eu and the united states called for the proers to leave in exchange for amnesty. >> translator: if people illegally took weapons and captured buildings laid down the weapons and released the building, we think these people should be given amnesty. >> reporter: ukraine and russia have promised to avoid violence and any provocative action. the purpose of the talks was to de-escalate tensions and find a peaceful solution to the crisis. however, the government in kiev says this doesn't mean an end to it's so-called anti-terrorist operations.

it will continue to act against groups who it described as separatists. confidence in russian holding up its end of the bargain is shaky. >> our strong preference would be for mr. putin to follow-through on what is a glimmer of hope coming out of these geneva talks, but we're not going to count on it until we see it. >> reporter: the crisis in ukraine has exposed a nation split between a future under european influence versus one dominated by russia. this new agreement tries to calm supporters of both camps, but there's still no guarantee of what's to be done in the long term. >> jackie rowland is live for us. we can join her there now. they say that russian officials is saying kiev misunderstood this international agreement. is this all falling apart now? >> reporter: well, i think what the russians are referring to is

the feeling that many people here have, that this agreement appears to be one-sided and it seems that the authorities in kiev are telling protesters here in the east to lay down their weapons and vacate the occupied buildings such as the regional administration headquarters behind me. as far as their concerned, they can't see that anyone in kiev or the west is making concessions. this is the point that the russians are making. we have to remember there are still protesters encamped in the central independence square in kiev. there are barricades there. so you can understand why people here in the east are saying why should we vacate our buildings and take down barricades while our rivals in kiev in the west still have their barricades. clearly the russians are trying to put more pressure on the authorities in kiev. up until now people thought there was nothing in the deal for them to actually encourage them to make any concessions at

all. >> so we have this going on, kind of like a mexican standoff going on in front of buildings like the one you're standing in front of. if the armed men and protesters don't leave there, what will happen? >> reporter: well, this is where we're getting mixed messages from kiev. on the one hand, they macon sill -- make con sill laer stalts and i refer in my report that the authorities say they will continue the anti-terrorist operations. they say they don't come to an end as a result of the agreement. they said that the agreement validates these operations. they say they're going to continue checking vehicles around the main cities looking for weapons or ammunition. they're also talking about setting up the cordone here in the town. we haven't seen that happens. you have the threat from one

hand, and yet on the other hand we have this statement on live television by the acting president and prime minister calling for national unity promising to give the russian language a special status in ukraine and holding out the prospect of a new constitution with greater autonomy to the region. that's what the people here really want. bearing in mind, the mixed messages, bearing in mind the feeling that many people have, this was an agreement reached behind their backs and they had no say in it. there is still a lot of distrust and suspicion here. >> all right. jacky rowland, thank you. the united nations is describing an attack on one of its bases in south sudan as a war crime. 58 people died at the peace keeping compound. armed men forced their way into the base. cokobe explained what happened. >> i want to emphasize we are ready for any eventality.

what happened is a fwrup of 300 men, women and even some children decided to walk towards our peace keeping base. we were led to believe they were going to hand over a petition regarding the work of the united nations and upon arrival at our base, part of that group broke off and they went towards the area of the base which is where we are protecting civilians and opened fire. now, we immediately returned fire, and we have used lethal force to repel the attack. >> since libya's uprising three years ago, more than 50 television channels and hundreds of newspapers have formed. with little in the way of government regulation, critics say parts of the media are behaving irresponsely and enciting violence. andrew simmons has more from tripoli. >> reporter: it brings a new meaning to the term media war. this is a libyan tv station that's relaunching after a series of military-style

attacks. the mask gunmen caught here on security cameras opened fire with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher before entering the building to ensure the station was out of action. this isn't unusual in libya, and it isn't any surprise there's no investigation. here the general national congress raided last month by protesters who shot and wounded three elected members, and the chairman of the media committee believes it's getting more dangerous. >> translator: everyone can see the chaos on the security front. the same is true of the media, which is highly unregulated and encites violence against state institutions. >> in libya anyone can own a newspaper, a radio station or a tv channel, and they can send out virtually any message they like true or false because there are hardly any legal restraints. since libya's revolution three years ago, more than 50 television channels and hundreds

of newspapers and magazines have opened up. some broadcasters are based in other arab states. all this with elections likely within three months. armed groups are refusing to surrender their weapons, and the government can't control law and order. >> it definitely wants to affect the election and wants to affect the drafting the constitution. big militias are taking the sides officially or unofficially of the debate. you have a very, very dangerous mix here. >> reporter: backs at the tv station, the staff are under constant threat, but their resolute about carrying on with their work. >> translator: even the average sit sfwlcitizen is afraid to go street, so you imagine what it's like for a journalists telling the truth. >> they continue to risk kidnap and murder, but the work of journalists is suppressed or diverted. there's no government plan to hold anyone legally liable for telling lies or stirring up

hatred just as there's no means of offering protection by telling the truth that provokes a violent reaction. andrew simmons, al jazeera, tripoli. now anti-coup protests have been held in several parts of egypt. security forces have fired tear gas at crowds in front of the university in cairo. demonstrators have complained about the military coup and the return of security guards to university campuses. in the coastal city of alexandria protesters voiced their anger at allegations of excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and have criticized the military. al jazeera demands the immediate release of its journalists imprisoned in egypt. they're accused of providing a platform, a charge al jazeera denies. they've been behind bars for 11 days now. the case has adjourned until

later this month. the fourth al jazeera journalist in detention is held without trial since last august. he's been on hunger strike for the last 88 days. at least 12 nepalese guides have been killed in mountain everest. it's the worst accident on the world's highest peak venlt we have the report. >> the himalayan climbing season was getting under way. they headed out to bright sunshine on friday morning carrying tents, food and rope. they set about preparing the route for other climbers. at about 6:45 they heard a loud rumble before they were hit by a wall of snow. this is a man with several broken ribs, but he's lucky to be alive. his sister-in-law describes what happens. >> translator: he said that they woke up early and headed to

higher camp to fix ropes but were delayed for an hour. when they reached, the avalanche fell on the group and buried many of them. >> reporter: the avalanche struck in an area known as the popcorn field because of the large boulders of ice that lie on the route. climbing the highest peak has become increasingly popular with adventure seekers ever since hillary and his guide became the first people to reach the summit of mount everest in 1953, a steady stream of professional and amateur climbers have been making the trek. nepal has issued permits to 734 people to climb mount everest this summer. the authorities say they're addressing concerns of overcrowding by doubling the number of climbing ropes on some of the treacherous parts of the route to make it easier and safer for climbers, but someone has to put those ropes there. the guides who make a living

from the mountains, know all too well they risk their lives every day they venture near the roof of the world. from the roof of the world you can get other stories we're following here on al jazeera if you head over to aljazeera.com.