celebrations in burundi as a senior army official says the president has been dismissed. ♪ hello again from doha everyone this is the world news from al jazeera. united nations calls for peace talks on yemen as the five-day ceasefire appears to hold. more than 40 people killed by gunmen in a bust attack. and the united states is

often called a christian nation but we'll find out why fewer americans are now saying in god we trust. in burundi today a senior army official said the president has been removed. however, that statement was immediately dismissed as quote a joke by the president's advisor. >> reporter: people in burundi's capitol are celebrating. they have heard that the military has removed president pee pierre nkurunziza. violent scuffles have continued and dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured. the president was running for a third term in office. [ inaudible ] his party insists

because he was chosen by parliament through popular vote his recent [ inaudible ] and the recent court ruling agreed with that assessment. violence has caused wide-spread unrest and condemnation from african neighbors. one group is trying to find a solution. the president was this tanzania [ technical difficulties ] form a transitional government to restore national unity. but many are [ inaudible ]. >> may not be that excited about the possibility of a coup. observers are cautious. we need to remember that a coup

is not a constitutional way to replace a president. more over once you have a coup we need to ask ourselves how long will it take to have transfer to the government. >> reporter: the military has played a role in the recent unrest. a coup could mean fewer protests on the streets, but a military takeover does not bode well in a country still recovering from civil war. we have this update now. >> reporter: we're here in independence square in the center -- sorry -- in the center of the capitol. thousands of protesters waving branches down here to celebrate the announcement of the takeover by a senior military spokesman who says the president has been dismissed. the soldiers have been out on the streets, but they haven't

been joining in with the police and joining in the violence. the protesters say they are safer when the army is around. the army is often seen by the protesters as being on their side. it now seems some of the members were working with the activists to try to take control. they say they are going to bring back the peace deal that was signed in 2005. >> that was malcolm webb about half an hour ago. i think we have managed to establish a live link with him now. can you hear me? >> yes. >> tell us what is going on now. >> reporter: there is still crowds of hundreds and hundreds of protesters here. the military vehicle is parked there, and the presence of

soldiers around very few police. the army officer who has lead what appears to be a coup says he is now in control. and the president is in tanzania to meet with other african leaders. some are saying he is still going to come back. in that is going to cause a lot of problems here. because right now it seems the army has a fairly firm control over the capitol, and the protesters seem to very much have taken control of the streets. >> can you reiterate what the army is like in burundi. a guest was telling me it is one of the success stories in the nation. >> reporter: the peace deal that ended the civil war stipulated that the army had to be ethnically balanced and made up of factions of rebel groups that

were fighting each other in the war. some people say that hasn't fully happened in practice but it is generally seen to be professional and neutral. its soldiers have been members of peace-keeping forces and the soldiers have benefited from training from the u.s. and other european countries as well. certainly throughout the last about three weeks of protest, the soldiers have been out on the streets and respected by the protesters and police alike. they haven't joined in the violence. we have seen them sometimes negotiating between protesters and police and urging the police not to shoot, not to use live rounds. the protesters have seen them at the very least at being neutral and at times even on their side. but no one knows if this is going to bring about the free and fair pullty party elections

that the protesters have been calling for. >> they wanted a democratic solution here. they haven't got that. they have gotten a military coup. but i guess the people will take that? they seem happy with it. >> the activists who are organizing these protests, some of them who we have spoken to in recent weeks want this to happen. we need to bare in mind this is probably one of the least urbanized countries in africa and they say the rural areas everyone has already been intimidated ahead of the election. they have received threats because of their political affiliation. about 50,000 people have fled the country mostly from rural areas, and particularly people with political affiliations. activists and opposition leaders say it's meaningless to hold

protests in those towns. because the militia is very much in control. you have this very small urban population left here that was able to take to the streets and even then the protests probably would have stopped a couple of weeks ago if the police had killed more protesters but it seems the army was stopping them from doing that. the organizers thought this was the only way that they could achieve their goal in stopping the president from running for a third term with the help of the army but on the protesters side. >> good enough. malcolm webb there. a five-day truce in yemen seems to be holding for now, despite reports of houthi shelling in some areas. permanent end to the crisis seems a long way off, though.

more from natasha ghoneim. >> reporter: blaring horns instead of gunfire. people walking and shopping instead of fighters in the streets. in the old city of sana'a it was the return to ordinary life on the first day of the ceasefire, but not everyone was feeling optimistic. >> translator: the yemeni people will never agree to a truce. these yemeni are forced to confront them because they can only be stopped with force. >> reporter: the truce is an attempt to help ease the suffering of yemenese after weeks of conflict. iran has sent a naval ship to escort its cargo else have care rig sup place and journalists, but the iranian military has said it won't allow the saudi-lead forces to inspect the ship. and witnesses in several cities say the houthis are continuing to shell neighborhoods. >> the houthis are divided.

there is a group of houthi fighters that would like to accept the ceasefire and move along, but then there is another group that is probably under the influence of the iranian government that is not necessarily happy with the terms of the ceasefire. >> reporter: the u.n. special envoy to yemen lands in the country on tuesday night. he says safe passage must be given to aid can reach yemenese. >> translator: there is no solution except a political one. yemen has no choice but to have all the sides sit at the table to find a solution. >> reporter: as the ceasefire begins human rights watch are demanding that the houthis stop recruiting child soldiers. natasha ghoneim, al jazeera. saudi arabia proposed the ceasefire in yemen, so allow in humanitarian aid 10s of thousands of people are suffers

because of a shortage of food water, and fuel after the six weeks of fighting. the u.n. is urging all sides to stick to their proposed ceasefire to allow the aid to reach yemen's most vulnerable. we have jamal with us from djibouti. how will that aid get to people in yemen jamal? >> reporter: well we're here in djibouti as you say, so far the aid has been several cargo planes coming from qatar, via qatar, over 200 tons worth of aid has arrived here. they are dispersing it mainly to the refugees but roughly 70 to 75% we are being told is being put on to cargo vessels and they will pass over to the port of aden in the next 24 hours.

a lot of that depends on that truce holding tight. because the main hindrance has been that nobody has been able to safe gourd a humanitarian passage. but we have seen food and clothing be distributed to the thousands of reges here. and many have welcomed this latest development, but what they really want is actually to be able to go back home in a safer better -- environment. >> are they essentially trapped there at the moment until anything changes back home? >> reporter: well, yeah that is the case and what is making it more difficult is djibouti as a country, although it has welcomed refugees previously but it's not very well equipped to deal with the influx of refugees. for example in the capitol, there are no refugee camps.

there are only a few down south and most of the refugees have been heading north where we are told there are thousands being housed in an orphanage. we were speaking to the foreign minister just a few hours ago, and he said the expects the situation to get even worse. and unless the international community moves shifter in terms of supporting the government here and bringing people on the ground to set up the refugee camps, mobile health clinics, and hospitals, then that catastrophe is just going to go from bad to worse. >> thank you. in the news ahead in al jazeera, europe lays out its latest proposal to deal with the migrants flooding on to its shores. at least five people are killed after a train came off of the rails in philadelphia in the

united states. in that and more in a moment. [beeping] ooo come on everybody, i think this is my grandson. [lip syncing] ♪little girl you look so lonesome oh my goodness. ♪i see you are feeling blue ♪come on over to my place ♪hey girl ♪we're having a party happy birthday, grandma! ♪we'll be swinging

♪dancing and singing ♪baby come on over tonight

♪ top stories for you on al jazeera, hundreds of people are out celebrating on the streets of burundi's capitol as a senior army officer says the president has been removed. he is actually in tanzania. the protesters have been on the streets for more than two weeks challenging his bid to run for a third time. the ceasefire seems to be holding in yemen, despite reports of houthi shelling in some areas. and tens of thousands of people are suffering in yemen

because of a shortage of food water, and fuel after six weeks of fighting so the u.n. is urging all sides to stick to the proposed ceasefire to allow that desperately needed aid to reach the most vulnerable. a group linked to the pakistani taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack on a bust in the capitol. the victims belong to a branch of shia islam. this bus was packed with computers during the morning rush hour when gunmen stopped it and opened indiscriminate fire. dozens were killed mostly a minority sub sect of shia islam. >> translator: 9 millimeter handguns, and other weapons were used. they fired at them inside the bus and not from outside the bus. >> reporter: a splinter group of

the pal -- palestineny taliban has claimed responsibility. it pledged allegiance to isil last year. witnesses say the attackers were on motor bikes, and some were wearing police uniforms. >> translator: when we went inside, we saw bodies lying everywhere. the driver had fled the scene. >> reporter: the bus is run by the community to ferry people to and from work. it's not the first time these muslims have come under attack in pakistan. >> translator: this is a deplorable attempt to spread chaos in pakistan and an attempt to make people fight with each other. those communities are being targeted who have never been controversial. >> reporter: despite this assault, police here say the number of attacks have gone down

in pakistan's largest city. but with several armed groups still operating in the area it's likely to take much longer to bring a complete end to the violence. iraqi television is reporting that isil deputy leader in the country has been killed. he is reported to have been killed in a coalition air strike west of mosul. he was apparently holding a meeting with other isil a leaders at the time of the strike. there has been intense fighting in syria's mountains. our correspondent reports now from beirut. >> reporter: hezbollah is pushing on three fronts in the mountain range. the armed group wants to secure a swift victory. it has mobilized thousands of fighters and heavy weapons. this is said to be one of the

most intense fighting in the last few weeks. ♪ we want to break away from our colleagues in doha to follow breaking news in philadelphia where officials are updating the media on last night's dead i will amtrak train derailment. let's listen. >> -- in addition we have brought in experts from the ntsb office of transportation disaster assistance who will be assisting those family members who have been affected by this tragedy. we will be hoping an -- will be a part of our investigation. we will work very closely with them. we will work closely with amtrak as well as the city of

philadelphia. we will be providing -- my goal is to provide you with factual information as we have it and we do plan to be able to hold a press briefing later this afternoon. i would encourage you to follow us at twitter and our hander is @ntsb, and my goal is to provide you with factual information as we learn it. as the mayor said we will not be speculating while we are here. but we will provide information as we learn it. i would like to -- to thank all of the first responders i can tell you firsthand that we do have a good relea shunship with the mayor's office. we worked in a boat accident that occurred in july of 2010 we have a good working relationship. so i'll step aside back to the mayor, thank you. >> additionally as board member

indicated because of the great work of the philadelphia fire department and jesse wilson is in command, the fire department is in charge of this scene, as well as the support from the philadelphia police department working with ntsb the -- whatever is comparable as we know it often referred to as a black box, that has been recovered. it is now in the amtrak operations center in delaware for analysis. we have no information from that particular device at all because it is currently being analyzed by the experts. now we'll hear from amtrak board member and board chairman anthony kosher. >> thank you, mayor. let me start which saying now deeply saddened we are. we -- our first major priority

will be our customers and employees who have been affected by this tragedy. we have established an 800 number. and we're in the process of setting up a family assistance center here in philadelphia. a thorough investigation will take place, lead by the nstb and amtrak will do everything in its power to assist in that investigation. this is the amtrak family. we are very saddened by what has occurred, and we'll do everything in our power to work with the mayor's office ntsb and all authorities to do everything possible dealing with this tragedy. >> could you spell your name. >> cos -- >> on the mic. spell your name on the mic. >> c-o-s-c-i-a. thank you. >> i think as you can see, given the level of representation. i want to first and foremost

thank the nstb sending a board member here. they have arrived in a tremendously timely fashion. having the board chair and other personnel, but the board chairman of amtrak on scene, again, demonstrates the level of concern and commitment that amtrak is demonstrating as well as nstb. all of our other partners here on-site, again, the level of coordination here is superior and we will continue to do all that we can, until we are assured that we have accounted for all of the people we believe were on that train. with all of those members having spoken lastly, on behalf of the entire city of philadelphia and other individuals that i have talked to at -- or have communicated with the mayor, in washington, d.c. who i talked to last night, the potential of washington, d.c. residents being

on that train was certainly possible, as it was a washington-started train to new york city, as well a -- i have communicated with mayor bill de blasio in new york city as well since that was the termination point with the expectation that there would have been new york city residents as well. on behalf of the million and a half people here in philadelphia, we also express our deepest sorrow. we will do everything we can to assist families who have loved ones on that particular train, and whatever their circumstance and condition, but certainly with the six confirmed deceased we are heart broken at what has .had here. we have not experienced anything like this in modern times and we will get to the bottom of it and figure out what happened why it happened, but that will take some time. with that we'll be glad to try to answer any questions that you

have. >> reporter: how many are unaccounted for right now? >> reporter: is anyone still missing. >> let me give you an additional piece of information. governor wolf has ordered state flags to be flown at half mass and i have issued a similar order for philadelphia flags as well out of respect for the victims. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> still in process. i was just at the cite ten minutes ago. >> reporter: how many people are unaccounted for? >> we don't have an accurate count on that. and i'm not in position to get into those details. >> reporter: you still do not have everyone accounted for, it's still 12-plus hours later. [ inaudible ] still unaccounted

for? you still don't have everyone accounted for? >> we have not completely matched the manifest we received from amtrak with the patient or hospital information. the hospitals assigned personnel to our emergency operation center last night. that is a very tedious process dealing with individuals, many of whom, obviously we have no idea who they are until they self identify. we very well could have also had people who did not even check in with us. there's also the possibility that some people who were supposed to be on that train, as many of us always know some people just miss their train or end up taking a different train or something like that. so we're not going to get into the specific of who do we have who do we not have until we know for sure. and again, we need to be sensitive to people who may have had a family member on that train.

yes? i'll come back over. >> reporter: can you confirm that four bodies have been removed from the wreckage and responders are [ inaudible ]? >> we know unfortunately there are six deceased. i'm not going to get in to where they were or where they have been transported. we have unfortunately six deceased. i heard a voice over here? >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> as best information as i know the conductor was injured to some extent received medical treatment, and is either -- has or is giving a statement or report to the philadelphia police department. i have no further information about the conductor or any other amtrak personnel. yes, sir? >> reporter: [ inaudible ] preliminary investigation to -- preliminary could have gone wrong? was there a problem going into that curve?

>> thank you, the question is do we have any preliminary information about that curve? and no. and just as we have said we're just getting here. our purpose for being here on-site is to collect the information that will go away with the passage of time so we're going to methodically start checking information, what was the train speed, what was the speed on that curve. that's part of our investigation to carefully document that. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> i got -- >> reporter: what information will you have when you get [ inaudible ]? >> here -- why don't we do it this way, if you will when you have a question raise your hand state your name and affiliation once we call on you, and that will make it a little more organized. the question is what can we get from those event recorders? and we can get a lot of

information, and it's my understanding that we have already recovered those and they will be read out. we have a forward-facing video camera that is in the front end of the train, so we will be looking at that. the event recorders themselveses can give you information about the speed of the train, any break applications any throttle information. that will be key to this investigation a good download of those data which is being conducted, will be done this afternoon, i think. so we hope to be able to provide you with information as we get it. >> two last questions? yes? >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> i have no information about that. all we have again, unfortunately is six confirmed deceased. we are still trying to get information ab