a cargo of dead, up to 50 refugees found dead in a truck of austria, as a summit begins to find a response the thousands landing on europe's shores. the beaches here as you can see covered in life jackets and the remains of rubber boats. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, 12 people are arrested in china in connection with the chemical blast that killed over 140 people. president obama is due in

new orleans to mark the ten years since hurricane katrina, in which nearly 2,000 people died. i'm charlie pierce reporting from northern ethiopia, where conservations are struggling to save over 1500 years of christian heritage in the rock hewn churches here. hello there. thank you for joining us. of the thousands of refugees arriving on europe's shores, the vast majority are fleeing the conflict in syria. european countries are not the only ones affected. turkey's ambassador has warned that the country is at capacity and said up to a million more people may flee syria if the fighting intensifies. by mid-august this year, 158,000 people had reached greece by sea. that puts rivals there ahead of

italy where so far over 90,000 have come ashore. now leaders of the western bakken nations are meeting in vienna in a bid to find a common strategy to deal with the worst refugee crisis to hit europe since world war ii. let's go to barnaby phillips who is following represents in vienna. barnaby for years, politicians in europe have been talking about need of a pan european approach to deal with the problem of these refugees where every they may land in europe. are we closer to that there in vienna? >> i don't think we are, necessarily, barbara, because it was only a limited e.u. participation, albeit an important one, angela merkel, the german chancellor was here, and she was talking very strongly about the need for solidarity for quotas that

european union countries would adhere to. but the mow cuss was relations with countries in the western bakkens. it was overshadowed by the migration crisis which has been building up for weeks, and then it was given an added urgency by the awful news that came through in the middle of the day here in vienna, that has truck has been discovered on the motorway to the south of the austrian capitol, leading from hungary, abandoned. at first they thought they were just ininvestigating the scene of an accident. but as they came close to the truck they noticed -- i'm sorry to give you gruesome details -- they noticed that blood was seeping out of the back and that there was a terrible smell. they discovered many decomposing bodies sealed into the back.

people who has suffocated. we may hear more from the austrian police later today, but it was between 20 perhaps as many as 50. the austrian police said this was a terrible crime. the driver of the truck had absconded. the people who died, we don't know their countries of origin, but we assume they were refugees trying to get into the european union. that cast a pause over the summit in the building behind me. angela merkel gave her response to this news. >> translator: we must put all of our efforts into making clear there is no tolerance for people who question the dignity of others. there is no tolerance for those not willing to help when legal and human help is required. >> reporter: well, now, the route into the european union

from syria, which has been the from syria, which has been the crucial route for years and months is greece. that is where people are crossing from turkey and typically what we're seeing is that they are crossing across a narrow stretch of the aegean sea to the closest greek islands. my colleague jonah hull is there, and he sent us this report. >> reporter: they emerge in the thin light of dawn. new arrivals, some still in life vests on the greek island. where do you come from? >> syria. >> reporter: from syria? >> yes. >> reporter: how was it coming over? >> not good. >> reporter: why? >> because of the waves. >> reporter: what are you looking for? >> the nearest police station. >> reporter: i think you probably have two or three more hours ahead of you.

>> thank you very much. >> reporter: where are you from? >> syria. >> reporter: good luck. >> peace. >> good-bye >> our boat was going up and down, and it was during the night. children, women, pregnant. that was the worst part, i believe. for everyone. >> reporter: we have been on the road for perhaps an hour now traveling from the capitol towards the most popular landing spot closest to turkey, and as you can see the sun just coming up, maybe 150 new arrivals all together. more than a thousand newcomers on this island every day. men, women, and children. the beaches covered in life jackets and the remains of rubber boats, relentless waves of people washing up on the shores of greece. [ shouting ]

>> reporter: are you happy to be here in greece. >> yes. >> reporter: do you feel safe now? >> yes. >> reporter: what do you think you will find here on this island? >> reporter: real life or normal life. >> reporter: help? do you think you'll find help? >> yeah, maybe. yes. yes. we need help. >> reporter: at a bend in the road, waiting for buss that may or may not arrive, it is as if some natural disaster has occurred. after the relief and joy of landing, these shell shocked faces belong to people who thought they left disaster behind. they thought they would find more than this, jonah hull, al jazeera, greece. >> reporter: well, greece may be part of the european union, but it's certainly not the promise land as far as refugees are concerned. and what we have seen, if we can step back and look at the bigger picture of europe, what we have seen is that people don't intend to stay in greece very long.

they move on from those islands to the big greek cities, and then they are heading north, up through macedonia, and then serbia, and then hungary. that is the crucial point where they would be entering back into the european union. their ultimate destination is to move from hungary to austria, to countries like germany and sweden, the prosperous countries. the countries where people may have family already settles, and they have better job prospects. but returning to the serbian hungarian border, we know the hungarian authorities have been busy erecting a fence to try to stop this flow of humanity, but it's not proving very effective as my colleague, andrew simmons on the border there, explains. >> reporter: this is the 3.5 meter high security fence that separates hungary from serbia.

it's 175 kilometers long. but there's a problem. because it comes to an end just here and it's totally open. i'm stepping back now into romania, and there's no separation, as you can see between romania and serbia over here. you can see this is a monument. now the prime minister of hungary has been criticized for putting this fence up, because it's easy, many people say to cut through the fence, and also you can see criminals could easily exploit this open ground to smuggle people through. one of many an onlilies the e.u. faces. >> reporter: despite this extraordinary flow of people

into europe, the majority of displaced syrians is still being taken by the neighbors countries. bernard smith gave us this update from the turkish border. >> reporter: this is now a syrian town, that's how one government official has described it. the population of syrian refugees here, 110,000. tur kirsch population, 108,000. it has more than doubled in just four years since the syrian civil war started. and there are another nine or so turkish towns in a similar position. the turkish minister has warned his country is at capacity, and fears if fighting continues and intensifies maybe another million could be headed this way, then he says he is warning europe to prepare to accept more syrian refugees, and a reminder from turkey's e.u. affairs minister that his country has

spent $6 billion so far in the last four years looking after the syrians living here. the europeans are offered about $80 million as a contribution towards the cost, but so far turkey hasn't received a penny of that offering of assistance. >> reporter: speaking at the summit here in vienna, the e.u. head of foreign affairs said we can't go on like this. gathering at summits, and holding a minute of silence over the latest tragedy. but she was also keen to stress that the picture was not one of total failure, of total inaction, she pointed to the increased naval presence in the central mediterranean, that is patrolling the route between libya, malta, sicily, lampedusa

areas, where we know so many people have drowned in recent years, and she says thousands have been rescued safely in recent weeks by the italian navy and other navies working there, and it would be safe to assume if that presence had not been stepped up a couple of months ago, we would have seen even more tragedies there. but ultimately when it comes to a coordinated european union response, the problem is hard national interests. i was talking about quotas earlier, and it's significant that wealthy countries within european union, countries like denmark, the united kingdom have said that they will have nothing to do with european union imposed quotas. so i think this debate will carry on and stretch the bounds of european solidarity in a similar way that the euro zone crisis has for very different

reasons. >> barnaby fim -- phillips there. thank you. ♪ the death toll from the explosion at china's port is now at least 145. 115 of the firefighters and police officers who responded to the blast on august 12th are dead or still unaccounted for. the former head of the harbor management office has been detained along with ten other local officials, and executives of the company that ran the port. all of the government officials are accused of dereliction of duty and abusing their positions. police have detained 12 employees of the company who's warehouse exploded. adrian brown sent us this update from beijing. >> reporter: in a sense those that you would expect to have been arrested have been arrested. they include the chairman, vice

chairman, as well as three deputy managers of the warehouse where all of those dangerous chemicals were stored and where those twin explosions happened just over two weeks ago. on wednesday it was announced that the man who headed the country's work safety regulator had himself been sacked. he is a former deputy major of the city, a post he held for 12 years. you sense this investigation is going to perhaps be more open than previous similar inquiries. this time the authorities are being much more open with the information they are releasing. but we still don't know the answer to several key questions. one, why is it that so many dangerous chemicals were stored less than 800 meters away from where people were living. chinese law states that such chemicals have to be stored at least a thousand meters away. most of the dead and injured are firemen. other questions, were these

firemen adequately trained to deal with a chemical disaster on this scale. and why is it so many firemen died. the government has promised a thorough investigation and has promised to tighten the regulations governing the storage of such chemicals. still to come on the program, missing for 500 days, the families of the abducted nigerian schoolgirls refuse to give up hope of finding them. and ten years after hurricane katrina, campaigners say new orleans is more divided than every before. ♪

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♪ >> a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the bodies of at least 50 refugees have been found inside the back of a truck on an austrian highway. the discovery comes as european and balkan leaders discuss the crisis at a summit. the death toll in china's explosion has now risen to 145, it comes as police detain 11 people, including government officials for abuse of power and dereliction of duty. every day we are seeing the fallingout from syria's civil war with thousands of refugees now arriving in europe as they try to flee the violence. the united nations security council is being briefed on the humanitarian crisis in syria. the u.n. estimated at least 12

million syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance. about 220,000 have been killed since the war started four years ago now. the u.n.'s top humanitarian official steven o'brien updated the council. let's take to gabriel at the u.n. for us now. tell us what the security council heard about the humanitarian situation in syria. >> they heard from steven o'brien, and it was a very, very grim assessment by steven o'brien. he just returned from syria a little over a week ago. he was there when the government air strikes hit a marketplace outside of duma, killing over 100 people, so he has a very fresh and recent perspective on the humanitarian situation there. he said that there are currently 4.6 million syrians living in hard to reach or besieged areas

in the country. of those, he said the u.n. has only been able to get food aid to about 12% of those people, and he said the underhas only been able to get medical aid to less than 5% of those 4.6 million living in hard-to-reach places. he said in the past month violence has continued to escalate across the country. he said 7.6 million people have been displaced in the country, including one million this year alone. but these are numbers, but behind each number is a real human story of suffering. there's a humanitarian crisis going on there, and nowhere is it seen more than in the refugee crisis. let's listen more about what steven o'brien had to say specifically about that. >> over 4 million people have fled across borders in a desperate search of survival and

a future. placing host countries communities under pressure which is now stretched to breaking point. we may all be living on borrowed time. >> reporter: he also said about that refugee crisis in the name of security and humanity, the international community must do better, he said, to help neighboring countries bare the burden of dealing with this refugee crisis, he says that not only syria is facing, but as we all know has now spilled into neighboring countries as well. >> heart breaking situation. gabriel thank you. it's 500 days since 276 schoolgirls were abducted in nigeria. they were taken in the northeast of the country beboko haram. this video was proof that they were alive, but not a single one has since been rescued. 57 girls managed to escape. but little is known about the

whereabouts of the others. a vigil is being held on thursday to help keep the bring back our girls campaign alive. our correspondent sent us this update. >> reporter: in addition to thursday being 500 days since the girls were abducted, it is also the culmination of seven days of activities by the relatives of the girls and their supporters to try to draw the public's attention to the fact that the girls are still missing, and to try to mobilize the public to put pressure on the government to do more to find them. relatives and their supports will hold a peaceful demonstration in the capitol. in the evening there will be a candle lit vigil. in terms of what the government are doing, the government say they are doing all they can to rescue them, but the military have massively intensified intelligence gathering in the

area where they leave some of the girls are being held captive. but there are many missions going on in these areas to try to locate the girls, and everything is being done. but they do point out the fact that it is only in the last few weeks that the new president took over from president goodluck jonathan. he is still trying to get to grips with what is going on, to fine out exactly the extent of the boko haram insurgency in general, and the sorts of devices the kidnappers have used to keep these girls still in captivity. they also point out that they don't think it's safe to give a running commentary on what operations are taking place to try to find the girls. the relatives are sad. they are trying to remain patient, but many of them are hopeful that with this renewed effort by the military maybe their girls will be found and returned home. u.s. president barack obama is visiting new orleans to mark

ten years since hurricane katrina. the storm left more than a thousand people dead and close to billion dollars worth of damage. the city has made a steady recovery, but many challenges still remain. >> reporter: on the bustling streets of the historic french quarter the signs of recovery are obvious, the urban street is once again a tourist hot spot and on the banks of the mississippi, the sound of jazz music hails the rebirth of new orleans. >> reporter: it's all a far cry from the desperate days that follow followed katrina. over a thousand residents died, more were displaced, many never to return, and entire communities lay in ruins. one of the city's oldest black-owned businesses hailed as a symbol of recovery, there is lingering criticism.

this land mark has been in the family for generations. she says greedy developers are putting profit before people. >> all those people got paid. and at the end of the day, some people are still left without homes, education. it's getting better, but it is still not where it needs to be. >> reporter: in the nearby biwater neighborhood, an influx of those eager to buy cheap homes, this place is no so expensive that many have been forced out. house prices in this neighborhood have risen 75% in the past few years. wealth disparity in this city is growing faster than almost anywhere else in the united states. proof that new orleans is now more unequal than before katrina. in ward 9, things have changed. damion can no longer afford to

buy a house, and says he feels like his community is being ignored. >> there is a school right here. abandoned. it could be opened for children. it could be a resource center, a learning facility to where they come after school and learn and get tutoring and stuff like that. they don't have that. >> reporter: it's clear that new orleans still has a long way to go, but even the most powerful official admit the poor are not being well served. >> people hurting more before the storm are now hurting more after the storm. this is a universal principle in the united states of america. this is with the whole discussion of income inkwee allty. >> reporter: the reaction to the hurricane remains a shameful chapter in the country's history, but it may be a lasting legacy. it is known as the jerusalem of africa, the town in ethiopia,

is famous for its spectacular churches hewn out of the solid rock. for centuries it has been a place of pilgrimage for christians from all over the world. charles stratford has been visiting the town. ♪ >> reporter: it's the spiritual home for millions of ethiopian orthodox christians around the world. ♪ >> reporter: the 11 churches were carved out of the mownside in the 12st century. these ancient places of worship represent holy sites in jerusalem, and stories in the bible. the king built them so christians didn't have to risk the dangerous pilgrimage to the holy land. these rock hewn churches are of immense archaeological and historical importance, but the

places of pilgrimage for ethiopian christians around the world are literally crumbling away. >> reporter: the rock in this area is highly sup septemberable to moisture. men use a syringe to inject grout. >> in terms of seismic activity resilience, i mean a slight earthquake would destroy the place. the fact is, that when you are dealing with gnat are strata in terms of an historic building, there is very little you can do. you know, you -- you can't line it with concrete and steel bars. you will destroy the monument. lose the historic surface and you are simply back into rotted geology, and process isn't far off on the inside. >> reporter: he shows us what he means. >> and if we start losing material like this right through

here, i mean, the only future for that without some sort of intervention is this. the idea of the bandage is to hold it in place until we can get there to -- to repair it, because every -- every time it rains a little bit more falls off. and if we weren't to do this, it would be a catastrophe. >> translator: i'm lucky, because i come from this area. this heritage is a very big thing for us. >> reporter: a number of churches have been covered by temporary shelters to protect them from the rain while work is done. ♪ >> reporter: on a hill top close by, people pray. >> translator: the king didn't just build the churches as a human being. he built them with the help of god. >> reporter: it was included on the first-ever unesco world heritage sight.

reserving this extraordinary place of spiritual retreat for ethiopians of every generation is a challenge they pray they can meet. charles stratford, al jazeera. you can find out much more about that and everything else that we have been covering, on aljazeera.com. losing their lives in pursuit of safety, dozens of refugees found dead in a truck in austria. prayer and remembrances today for two journalists murdered on live television. we're learning new details about the man who killed them. and president obama travels to new orleans today, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of hurricane katrina. ♪