39 people are found dead in the back of a container lorry in essex — one was a teenager. the horrifying discovery was made in the small hours. it's not yet known who the people were or where they came from. this is an absolute tragedy and a very sad day for essex police and the local community. we will continue to work alongside many other partner agencies to find out what led to these deaths. the moment the lorry arrived at its final destination at around 1.15am this morning at an industrial park in grays. the lorry driver, who's 25, from northern ireland and named locally as mo robinson, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. tonight, the police have appealed for information about who the victims are and who might have organised their fatal journey here. also tonight...

borisjohnson and jeremy corbyn meet to try to find a way through the brexit stalemate. is fracking finished in the uk? the government and a highly critical report casts doubt over its future. and one of the team — the prince of wales meets the welsh rugby squad ahead of their world cup semifinal in japan. coming up in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, we'll have reaction to the death of paralympic champion marieke vervoort, the belgian wheelchair racer who has ended her life through euthanasia. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at 6pm. 39 people have been found dead in the back of a lorry in essex. it's not known who they are

or where they came from. one was a teenager. the lorry driver, who's 25, from northern ireland and and named locally as mo robinson, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. the victims were discovered at1.1i0 this morning. the police say identifying them is their number one priority but it's expected to be a lengthy process. the lorry was registered in bulgaria two years ago. the police say they believed it travelled from zeebrugge into purfleet in essex shortly after midnight this morning before arriving at an industrial park in grays in essex at one 1.15am. our special correspondent ed thomas is live at the scene. this is a shocking and tragic discovery. yes, in the last hour or so, this lorry, with all 39 people, have left here and been sent to what police say is a secure location. as it passed this road, police officers

lining the route bowed their heads. we have seen senior detectives visibly upset here today. their focus now is on finding out who these people were and who put them inside that container. just before 1:40am, paramedics called police. the doors of the lorry container had been opened. inside, 39 bodies. 39 lives, people with hopes and ambitions. the youngest was a teenager. it's tragic, absolutely terrible. such a shame. they were obviously trying to get over here for a better life. shame. they were obviously trying to get over here for a better lifem is heartbreaking for me. feel very sorry for them. it's horrible. it is quite difficult to believe that that is happening quite close to the place where you're working every day for many years. we have obtained

this cctv from 1.13 am this morning, close to where it was found. the lorry passes at speed. the final moments before its journey lorry passes at speed. the final moments before itsjourney ended. when paramedics were called, or 39 people inside were pronounced dead. today, search for clues and answers had begun. this is as close as the police will allow us to the lorry. all morning, forensic teams have been coming and going from that tent. we still don't know who put these people on the lorry. we don't know exactly how they died. all we know exactly how they died. all we know is that the lorry was found here in the early hours of this morning. we know the track was registered in bulgaria. police say the trailer travelled from zeebrugge in belgium into purfleet on the river thames, and arriving just after midnight. the driver of the lorry has been named locally in northern ireland a 25—year—old mo

robinson. he is being questioned on suspicion of murder. this matter has attracted national and international interest and it is imperative that the operation is conducted with the utmost respect for the 39 people who have lost their lives. grays is at the centre of a huge haulage network. lorry stopped overnight with people coming out of them. some here are shocked but not surprised. this cabbie says he and his collea g u es this cabbie says he and his colleagues are often approached by desperate people. they come up, they can't speak english. they hand you a phone, you speak to someone on the other end and they ask you to take them to an address. it is normally by london. i have seen six people getting out of the back of a lorry in the same location. this man didn't want to be identified. my best friend has seen people running out of a lorry and scattering in all directions. he walks past the place where the lorry was found most mornings. everybody has had an

experience that i know, especially in that area. and itjust seems experience that i know, especially in that area. and it just seems a thing that no one seems to care about. today the prime minister, and labour leaderjeremy corbyn, spoke of their shock and sadness. this is an unimaginable tragedy and truly heartbreaking. i know the thoughts and prayers of all members are with those who lost their lives and their loved ones. to open that container and have to remove 39 bodies from it and have to remove 39 bodies from it and deal with them in an appropriate and deal with them in an appropriate and humane way, we should just think for a moment of what inhumanity is done to other human beings. tonight, the lorry and the people on board have been taken away. police said their dignity and finding their loved ones comes first. ed thomas, bbc news, grays. so where could the people found dead in the lorry have come from? what routes are now being used to smuggle people in and what can be done to stop a trade that can lead to such tragedy?

our home editor mark easton takes a closer look. just five years ago, police opened a container at tilbury docks on the thames and discovered dozens of desperate migrants, including 15 children. one man from afghanistan was dead. today's container and its tragic contents were found a short distance away. there are four significant people smuggling routes into central europe — up through spain, across the mediterranean into italy from north africa, through poland through the east, and probably the busiest route, through turkey and up through the balkans. from the black sea, migrants are smuggled through countries like bulgaria, where the authorities have been under pressure from the eu to improve border security. people traffickers and smugglers were traffic targeted in bulgaria this summer, including this operation on the banks of the danube. the lorry found in essex has links with that country. those looking to move to the uk

are generally carried in lorries or containers to the channel ports — the container found today appears to have come through zeebrugge in belgium and then taken on a ferry to the purfleet, part of london's docks on the thames, and an increasingly popular route for people smugglers. the container was found nearby at the waterglade industrial park. police say smaller british ports like london, away from the intense security of routes through dover, are increasingly attracted to the organized criminal networks, charging desperate people vast sums for a perilous journey. the home secretary said things were moving quickly. first and foremost, it is important to say what happened is dreadful. border force immigration teams and law enforcement agencies of course work together in terms of information sharing, data sharing, cooperation. the key to beating the smugglers is

cooperation across borders. the national crime agency and europol worked closely together with other partners to disrupt the gangs, and there are efforts being made to ensure such a vital collaboration is not adversely affected by brexit. mark easton, bbc news. borisjohnson has had a meeting with the labour leaderjeremy corbyn amid uncertainty about what happens next with brexit. last night, mps rejected the prime minister's attempt to push his brexit bill through the commons in just three days. there has been cautious support in the european union for granting the uk more time to try to approve the brexit deal. but borisjohnson has told the european commission president donald tusk he doesn't want an extension. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more. forget all westminster‘s flurry — it is up in the air. will we leave the eu before christmas, or be back at the ballot box? the prime minister's attempt to walk his brexit deal through the commons stored last

night, so delay is on the cards and it is not in his hands. they said we couldn't get a new deal, and we did. then they said we would never get it through parliament, and they did their utmost, didn't they? they did their utmost, didn't they? they did their utmost, didn't they? they did their utmost to stop it going through parliament, and we got it through parliament, and we got it through parliament, and we got it through parliament last night, mr speaker. mps did agree the prime minister's deal to take us out of the eu was worth talking about, but they did not pass it, not at all, and kicked out the government's timetable, so the brakes are on. he threw northern ireland under a bus, he ripped up protections for workers' rights and environmental standards. does the prime minister acce pt standards. does the prime minister accept that parliament should have the necessary time to improve on this worse than terrible treaty? in truth, there will be no big decisions at home until other choices are made elsewhere. it is for ireland and the rest of the eu to allow the uk more time or not and i'd know what conditions. my bags

are always packed for brussels, and packed they are again. in writing, if there is agreement around the continent, or at a summit on monday. if there is no consensus, we will have to convene a meeting of the european council to discuss whether 01’ european council to discuss whether or not to grant an extension to the uk, for how long and under what conditions. until there uk, for how long and under what conditions. untilthere is uk, for how long and under what conditions. until there is a firm decision from the eu, this place is in limbo. the prime minister and jeremy corbyn met in here this morning to discuss whether there was a way through, but at a slower timetable. but they agreed nothing, and the prime minister claims if there is a delay of months, he would rather go straight for a general election. yet just as rather go straight for a general election. yetjust as some in number ten are gung ho for the ballot box, there are some ministers in the cabinet who visibly disagree. with an agreement that has a chance of being approved, some ministers are arguing to agree a new timetable, a programme motion and try again.|j wa nt to programme motion and try again.|j want to listen to northern ireland

mps, a programme motion that is to the satisfaction of a majority of people in this house and resolve the situation. that is where i feel our response fertilised, and we can work together to address many of these issues —— that is where our responsibility lies. our politicians have a patchy record of that, but the politicians agree a delay must be granted before they will permit an election. it should notjust be long enough to scrutinise a bad bill for a week or two longer, it should in my view be long enough to allow a general election or a referendum. in my view be long enough to allow a general election or a referendumm may only be a few days before that choice is made, but in political terms, a long walk yet. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. all eyes are again on europe, and how the 27 eu leaders will respond to the request for a delay to brexit.

so what are their options? one possibility is a short extension, just a few weeks, potentially giving the government enough time to pass the deal. another is a longer extension to the end of january, that's the date requested in the legislation as agreed by parliament, though there could be an early out if the pm's deal is ratified. our europe editor katya adler is in brussels, what are you hearing there as to which way the eu might go? iam i am told we were have a decision by the end of the week. why is it taking eu leader so long to decide? it looks likely that they will say yes to an extension, but exactly how long. there are three main reasons. the first is practical. the president of the european council in brussels needs to speak to each of the 27 eu leaders individually. i am sure you can imagine that they are quite busy people. it is not easy to get hold of them. for example, the french president is currently on an island in the indian ocean. the second reason is because eu leaders would like a bit of time before they announce their decision to make a point to the uk that the uk can't

adjust always ask for more rolling brexit extensions. different europe minister has been particularly outspoken. she said, we want to know exactly what you would like to use the extension for. and the third reason, fiona, is that the eu is nervous that its decision on a brexit extension will be used for political ends back in the uk. for example, there is an assumption here that if the three month extension is granted that the prime minister has asked for, he will use that time to push for the pre—brexit general election he is known to so want. but when all is said and done, as i said, the likelihood is that the eu will say yes to the extension, probably, to the requested three month extension, but calling it, like last time, a flextension. as soon like last time, a flextension. as soon as like last time, a flextension. as soon as the deal is ratified in parliament, the extension can be ended ahead of time. katya adler in brussels, thank you.

our top story this evening. 39 people are found dead in the back of a container lorry in essex, one was a teenager. the 25—year—old driver has been arrested. and coming up, there's fresh concern for thousands of workers at british steel, as a deal to save the company is in doubt. coming up in sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, we'll have the latest from tonight's champions league football, including liverpool's match at genk. the future of fracking in the uk is hanging by a thread today. the bbc understands there are no plans to increase the level of earth tremors permitted during fracking, but the industry says it cannot continue with such limitations. back in 2013, there were promises that gas extracted from fracturing shale rock — with water under high pressure — could revolutionise our energy supply. a report out today by the public

spending watchdog casts doubt on whether those promises can ever be delivered. our business editor simonjack reports. deep beneath these fields in lancashire lies a fortune in gas. to release it, you need to fracture — orfrack — the rocks it's captured in with high—pressure water thousands of metres down. didn't feel very nice at all. nearby dairy farmerjohn bradley says this fracking operation made itself felt over the summer in a big way. one of them was like a long, slow tremor when i was in the house. wasn't very nice at all — lasted 8—9 seconds. quite scary really. the other was a large bang, like a large shock, a loud bang. initially, i was on the fence about it. but once the tremors started, i'm not for it at all. the gas, which is separated out, comes across here. . . the boss of drilling company cuadrilla admitted the summer tremors were close to the maximum they had anticipated, but said the prize was worth trying to fix the problem. we are demonstrating

a resource here that could be potentially worth billions. it is worth spending some money on to find a way dealing with the seismicity, and i'm confident we'll be able to do that. it's notjust the earth tremors — today's report punches a number of holes in the case for fracking. slow progress in assessing its commercial viability, confusion who ultimately gets the bill for cleanup costs, a hardening of public opinion against fracking, which has put extra pressure on local authorities who've paid out £13 million on managing protests. as you can see, there is gas under these rocks here in lancashire. but the question is, whether that can turn into the dream of a self—sufficient uk the way that the us has had a game—changing industry. today's report, however, means the fire of that ambition is in danger of going out. the report does acknowledge the uk is increasingly reliant on imported gas, which cuadrilla says needn't be the case. is the gas there?

is it good quality? is it producible? we will answer that yes, yes, and yes. we will be using gas for decades to come, and our argument still consistently is, we should develop our own gas, rather than rely on imports. a review of earth tremor rules is expected imminently. unless they're relaxed, fracking has no future, according to the government's former shale commissioner. the regulations under which the industry had to operate made it completely impossible. and they were different from the regulations under which other industries have to operate. and i think separating out fracking from everything else and making it uniquejust made it impossible to do the job, really. the bbc understands the government will not be relaxing those rules. that means activists will get what they want — the gas we will still need won't be coming from here. simonjack, bbc news, lancashire. a deal to save british steel from collapse is in doubt tonight as negotiations for a turkish company to take it over are approaching tomorrow's deadline without sign of agreement.

25,000 jobs are at risk at the plant and in its supply chain. colletta smith is at british steel in scunthorpe, these are anxious times for the workforce. what chance theirjobs can be saved? well, this is another dip in a horrible roller—coaster that the thousands of workers and their families have been facing since the company went into liquidation six months ago. there was good news over the summer as ataer holdings were announced as the preferred bidder to buy the company and they had exclusive access to the documents, the financial paperwork of the company said they could have a good look through and decide whether they wa nted look through and decide whether they wanted to buy the company. the workers kept theirjobs and furnaces behind me had kept burning in that period. there were questions raised about whether the investment arm of the turkish armed forces should be

allowed to buy such a significant company here in the uk. now today the official receiver and the government has said that from tomorrow they are going to be open tomorrow they are going to be open to talks with other companies who might be interested in buying the business here. the positive way of looking at that is, maybe it is a last—minute negotiating tactic just to get ataer over the line and get them to sign a deal by tomorrow but thatis them to sign a deal by tomorrow but that is certainly not a given in a situation and timeframe where people here were hoping the company would be signed, sealed and delivered. a man accused of murdering teenager jodie chesney has denied the charge. svenson ong—a—kwie said his polo accused was responsible. four youths have been

charged. jodie chesney was in the wrong place at the wrong time. she was stabbed in the back as she sat in this park with friends on friday night. the four youths charged of her murder had disputed the motive and who was responsible. svenson ong—a—kwie denied having issues with other dealers and said he never carried weapons. he said this was not a tit—for—tat revenge attack. right at the start of his evidence, svenson ong—a—kwie was asked directly about the killing, did you do that? no, he replied, i did not sta b do that? no, he replied, i did not stabjodie do that? no, he replied, i did not stab jodie chesney. he do that? no, he replied, i did not stabjodie chesney. he was asked who did and named his co—defendant and nodded to him in the dark. they were both caught on camera heading into the park just before

both caught on camera heading into the parkjust beforejodie's murder. moments later they got into the back ofa moments later they got into the back of a black vauxhall corsa. that was driven by immanuel petrovic, who claimed he did not know anything violent was planned. —— manuel petrovic. donald trump says he'll lift sanctions against turkey after its offensive in northern syria, following assurances that turkey is making its ceasefire there permanent. fierce fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians since turkey began its assault on kurdish fighters, who they say are terrorists. the white house has been accused of giving a "green light" to the offensive, after it pulled us troops out of the area. universities have done too little to tackle racism on campus, according to the equality and human rights commission. it suggests a quarter of black and asian students experience some form of racial harassment and that universities are reluctant to face up to it for fear of damaging their reputation. universities have described

the report as sobering and shocking. here's our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. universities, places of learning but not always tolerance. this t—shirt, worn to a student event this term. leicester university has disciplined the students involved. i met a recent graduate we're calling angela. she was in a lecture at a medical school. instead of talking about afro—caribbean women, the senior tutor repeatedly used the n—word. everyone was very shocked. you kind of hear everyone gasping. there was an audible gasp in the lecture theatre. for you, as a black student, what was the emotional and psychological impact? it makes me feel quite left out and segregated and kind of like i don't belong. for some students, the effect of racism is devastating. we have real concerns in particular about the impact it has had on people's mental health.

we have around 8% of those students who told us about experiencing racism telling us they considered suicide as a response to that. we heard around one in 20 had dropped out of their degree courses altogether. universities worry about their reputation and that's got in the way of taking racism on campus seriously. students will only come forward if there is a safe way of reporting their concerns and if they know they will be acted on. manchester uni has pioneered this app. it has encouraged more students to report. no—one wants to think that they're in an institution that is seen as sexist, racist or anything else. absolutely, there is always a tension and nervousness. it is making everyone sit up. there were lots of people who were surprised and shocked at what is coming forward. unless you hear it you don't know. is this something that's going to be happening on every university campus? i think if ijust think

about manchester, we are a microcosm of society, no doubt about that. within every institution, i would be incredibly surprised if there aren't issues in every single institution. universities say the report is sobering. they are promising urgent action. the prince of wales has met the welsh rugby team, ahead of their world cup semi—final on sunday. the six nations champions are in tokyo for the match against south africa in nearby yokohama. from tokyo, our sports correspondent andy swiss reports. it was a day rugby royalty met the real thing. after spending yesterday at a ceremony for the new japanese emperor, a very different gathering for the prince of wales, given a signed shirt by the welsh players ahead of their world cup semifinal. the prince presented new arrival owen lane with his tournament cap,

but what words did he offer about the south african team? "quite big people," he said, and the message certainly got through. he just said, "they're bloody big buggers, aren't they?", and left it at that. he wished us all the best and we had a bit of a chat, butjust wished us all the best, really. wales' preparations might have had royal approval today, but now it's all about the rugby. can they make history and reach their first world cup final? this time last year, they beat south africa, but the springboks were understrength. they will be favourites this weekend, but many here have belief. can they get to the final? they can, yeah. they beat south africa four times in a row. they're a group of players and a group of management who know how to win big games. they'll get the players mentally right. they probably weren't mentally

there for that game against france. they'll be underdogs going into this one, which probably suits wales a bit. and wales, remember, are the reigning six nations champions. now they and every one of their supporters will be hoping for something even better. andy swiss, bbc news, tokyo. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. hello. we have enjoyed a slightly dry spell. that is about to change. over the next 2a out of be cds whether france merging across the uk. in the south west, friday into saturday, with this weather front will wriggle into england and wales and we will have to keep a close eye on things. in england and wales we could see 100 millimetres of rain in a few spots. keep checking the forecast if you have plans. tonight

we will see wetter weather develop. heavier in scotland and northern ireland but turning clearer later. temperatures went full as much as they have done over the past few nights. —— will not full. a cloudy start for england and wales. the rain will turn heavier towards the middle part of the day. sunshine develops in the west. wendy in western scotland and northern ireland with heavy and thundery showers. as the rain clears east anglia and the south—east in the evening we will see a more noticeable temperature drop to take us noticeable temperature drop to take us into friday morning with frost in the north and west. a bright start to friday. still sunshine in scotla nd to friday. still sunshine in scotland and northern ireland. the morning sunshine gives way to plaid. outbreaks of rain will become heavy and persistent. —— give way to

cloud. friday night and into saturday, notice how the rain is still there slowly moving south eastwards. it will clear away but we will see clearer, colder conditions starting to push their way in. by sunday hopefully the sunshine will be back. that's all from the bbc news at 6pm, so it's goodbye from me.

how these are the headlines. fx police are investigating the deaths of 39 people whose bodies were found ina of 39 people whose bodies were found in a lorry container. this matter has attracted national and international interest and it's absolutely imperative that the operation is conducted with the utmost respect for the 39 people who have lost their lives. the prime minister goal is to meet the labour

leader to try to agree a timetable for a brexit deal after mps back to