adrian brown from jindo. where a search for missing passengers condition. >> syria's largest city had 50 at least killed in a barrel bombing. this picture, which can't be independently verified appears to show the aftermath. government forces have been dropping barrel bombs on rebel-held areas in an intense campaign that began in december. more than 1,000 people have been killed since then. barrel bombs, filled with explosive. shrapnel. causing damage. >> for more than 20,000 residents of damascus are in danger of starving to death. that's a warning from the united nations. the yarmouk camp is on the outskirts of the capital and has become a key battle ground. no food delivered. aid supplies have run out. some are resorting to eating leaves and animal feed. >> they need to deliver 700 foot parcels to the camp. it's only managed to get in around 100 a day. conditions have worsened. no food has been able to get in. a spokesman for the u.n. relief says that there is food waste to be delivered, but aid agencies n

we hope to go live to adrian brown in jinned u in a -- jindo, but here is a report on why the families say their suffering is being made worse. >> it's one of the saddest places on earth. a gymnasium, a temporary home to families of missing. among those enduring another agonising day, this woman, whose 16-year-old daughter is unacontacted for. a daughter whom a mother describes as intelligent, optimistic and fun. >> she was a daughter and a friend. >> a daughter. she wants to believe is still alive. >> this is kim, a devote christian, got the last cool from her daughter at 9:56am on sunday morning, when the ferry was list said dangerously to one side. >>. >> translation: she said, "mum, quickly, pray to got. we are also praying." if god takes her, there's nothing i can do. >> she's getting by on two hours sleep a day and spends most of her time watching the rolling news coverage. >> they have been through the full range of emotions. anger, denial and acceptance that they may never see their child again. >> mrs. kim's husband has spent the past four days demanding answers from the autho

adrian brown has their story. >> reporter: it is one of the saddest place on earth. the gymnasium that is now the temporary home for the families of the missing. her 16-year-old daughter remains unaccounted for had these are pictures of kim on the left. her daughter is intelligent, optimistic and above all fun. >> she was a daughter and a friend. >> reporter: the daughter she wants to believe who is still alive. mrs. kim got her last call from her daughter on wednesday morning when the ferry was already listing dangerously to one side. >> she said, mom, quickly pray to god. we're also praying so i hope god is protecting her. if god decides to take her, there is nothing i can do. >> reporter: she's getting by on two hours of sleep a day and spends most of her time watching the rolling news coverage of the disaster. they have been through the full range of emotions. anger, denial, and for some acceptance that they may never see their child again. mrs. kim's husband has spent the past four days demanding answers from the authorities. on this occasion challenging officia

adrian brown has more on how the community is trying to cope with loss. >> reporter: it's a communityhat has been crushed by grief. at a makeshift memorial there was a steady procession of mourners. the majority of the dead and missing are students from the same local high school. funerals are one of the few occasions in south korea where people are expected to express their feelings. it has been an emotionally draining week for the people of this city. scenes like this are set to be repeated for days if not weeks to come. >> translator: first we need to recover from the sadness, and the students also need to recover and be able to go back to their schools again. >> reporter: the operation to retrieve the bodies is gathering pace. helped in part by better weather. the sinking of the ferry was an anniversary one week ago that seemed to pass unnoticed here in the town. but the family of this girl can now at least mourn their beloved daughter. i last spoke to her mother on saturday when she still wanted to believe her daughter would make it. this girl was on the year of embarking on a ye

let's join our correspondent covering this, adrian brown. he is in jindo. we saw the death toll rising again in the past hour. >> that's right. it now stands at 58, more than twice what it was this time yesterday. i think we have reached the stage where we'll see the confirmed death toll mount significantly in the coming 24 hours or so. this is a reflection of the fact that divers have been object get into other ors of the -- other areas of the submemoryinged -- submerged vessel. they believed most of the people they had hoped would survive would be. it's really turned into a recovery operation. bodies have been brought back by coast guard vessels running between the shore. carried ashore in a sombre procession and taken to a morgue where they are identified by family members. here, close to where the names of dead have been tabulated. they have descriptions of children which they goept have a name for. what they put down is items of a belonging that were found with a child. occasionally there'll be a shout, a gasp, a scream as someone recognises the fact t

. >> let's go to our correspondent adrian brown. joining us from jindo. >> if you can give us an idea of what is happening where you are, where you are standing, and the latest in the recovery effort:. >> yes, that really has become a recovery provision now. that's a sign that the divers have been able to enter the vessel in greater numbers, they weren't able to a few days ago because of the weather and visibility. they are making much more head way, and what we are seeing is almost a shuttle service of coast guard vessels bringing bodies from the submerged ship to the shore. the death toll stands at 56, and it's been rising by the hour. there has been emotional scenes, as you can imagine in the port today. there's grieving, crying, sobbing where you go. that really is the sound of this port. when the bodies are tape ashore, they are -- taken ashore, they are put into a temporary morgue. they are taken to a near hospital. the names of the deader being listed, and the descriptions of the children if they don't have names, for instanc

. >> adrian brown, our correspondent, is covering the story from the port city of jindo. the president had harsh words for the crew, the members arrested, and the captain, it is clear. she is not going to show them any mercy. >> that's right. the captain really is a figure of hate in this country at the moment, and really is the oection of so much nger from the cam lis -- focus of so much anger from the families and for good reason. the authorities are moving. there's four more arrests. three at the weekend, including the cap tape, who has -- captain, who has been charged with breaching maritime law and negligence, and prosecutors accuse him of breaching the most important maritime protocol of all, which is abandoning the ship before all the passengers had left. today the president, added her condemnation to the chorus of criticism over the captain's actions. she was meeting her aides. this is what she had to say. >>. >> translation: the conduct of the captain and some crew members is unnath omable. it was untolerated. it was an act of emergency. the captain did not follo

adrian brown reports that they have been watching the events unfold on the tv cleans. it's one of the saddest places on earth. the gymnasium is one of the temporary home. grief is all around you. among those enduring an agonising day. kim's daughter is unaccounted for. these are recent pictures of kim on the left. a daughter her mother described as intelligent. optimistic and mun. >> she was a daughter and a friend. >> a daughter she wants to believe is alive. >> this is kim, a devout christian, she got a call from her daughter at 9:57am. when the ferry listed dangerously to one side. >> she said, "mum, pray to god. we are also praying. i hope god is protecting her. if god decides to take her, there's nothing i can do. she's getting buy on two hours sleep a day. she spends much of her time. they have been through the full range of emotions, anger, denial for some, and acceptance that they may never see the child again. >> mrs. kim's husband spent the past four days demanding answers, on this occasion challenging officials over the true state of the vessel. his daughter

adrian brown, al jazeera, south korea. >>> coming up next, two palestinian groups trying to make peace. what it means for israel. >> and cuban cuisine, how the menu is changing now that the political landscape is changing. >> welcome back, this is al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler in new york. we have a lot more to cover this half hour. caught in the cross fire. a young syrian boy becomes a casualty of war after narrowly escaping death months ago. >>> ethnic getting maxed up with job candidates. >>> and getting patched up with one of the best sushi restaurants in the world. richelle carey is back with the headlines. >> john, listen to rival palestinian groups hamas and fatah say they will try to form a unified government. israel has responded by pulling out of the negotiation process aimed at restoring peace in the region. >>> the first of u.s. troops touched down in eastern europe today, they will take part in a month of military exercises meant to support u.s. allies there, unrest in ukraine, russian troops are holding their own drills along ukraine's eastern border. and pres

adrian brown in south korea. >>> in other world news an education commission center apology near gentleman said 44 school girls out of 129 who were kidnapped on tuesday are safe with their parents. they were abducted from their school on tuesday. they are still not clear where the remaining girls are being held. let's get the latest from al jazeera who joins us now from the nigerian capitol. it's been four days since these girls were abducted from their school. there have been conflicting reports about their fate, their whereabouts. what is the latest you're hearing? >> just like you said, they have confirmed that so far 44 students are safe or are back with their families. but they fac the fate of 85 oths still missing, and the manhunt is underway to try to find the remaining 85 girls. one area of focus is the notorious forest, a known hide out of boko haram fighters. the military in the last year or so has launched several air and ground all thes, yet they have not launched the fight freers this area. >> amid, the finger being pointed at boko haram, and there is responsibility taken for

. >> adrian brown has the latest on the recovering. >> reporter: their anguish is compounded by the release of those transcripts of the final ship-to-shore radio exchanges between port officials and the crew on the bridge of the stricken ferry. during a passage the crew say to the port officials we have lost our ability to forecast and the passengers can't move. it indicates that the vessels in house internal communication system failed, and that's something backed up by survivors who say they never heard an order to evacuate. the captain waited 30 minutes before ordering an evacuation. many never heard that. we can show a promotional video showing the captain saying how the journey on the vessel is safe. in 2010 le joon-seok promised all would be well as long as passengers follow the instructions of the crew. >> translation: i believe it is safer than any vehicle as long as they follow instructions of crew members. >> ipp decision and confusion occurred as the ship sank. the final decision to evacuate the ship was left to the captain. he was not on the bridge at the time the ferry started

. >> let's get the latest from adrian brown, al jazeera, who joins us on the phone from jindo. what is the latest? >> it's dusk in south korea. it's been a difficult day for the divers, because the currents have been strong indeed, making it perilous for the divers. there's some 500 divers taking part in this operation. we have had heavy rain and strong winds, and the visibility in the water has been very poor. it's murky and muddy. as we heard in harry's report, the focus of the parents' anger at the moment - the parents of the children still missing - is the captain. he has been questioned today by the - by the coast guard along with several other crew members. and, of course, during the coming days he'll be speaking to some of the survivors who have told of how they were told to stay put on the boat. even when it was tilting dangerously after hitting an unknown object in the water. now, the president, as we heard, made a brief unannounced visit today. she didn't get a chance and was not able to meet the families gathered, huddled on the dock. the prime minister, when he came

. >> and i'm adrian brown live in jindo south korea, where parents are watching the bodies of their children brought ashore - four days after the ferry sank. i'll have the latest. >> syrian activists warn the situation in the besieged city of homs is getting worse. an appeal to the world for help. >> survivors speak of the attack in south sudan, that killed 58 people, as the government sends in soldiers to protect u.n. compounds. >> i'm in yanggong where a booming economy is driving one industry out of business. >> divers in south korea are pulling more bodies out of a capsized ferry. the number of people confirmed dead has rich to 68 -- risen to 68. more than 200 are missing. >> a search operation is underway off the island of jindo, from where harry fawcett reports. >> for a day when christians celebrate a resurrection, this was the eater sunday's -- easter sunday's service on the water's edge of jindo. salvation army volunteers used the cann teen where they'd been feeding rescue workers to pray for the dead. they are being brought ashore in greater numbers. for the first time, divers have

adrian brown, al jazeera, jimbo south korea. >> we will hooe more from aid korean brown.e will join us in just a few on the recovery. >> washington may dispatch 150 soldiers to poland and estonia for military exercises. at a time would follow the buildup of russian forces along ukraine's border. it would reliable last about two weeks but would continue on a rotating basis. >>> acted visits are still protesting and calling for the interim government to now step down. following the ouster of victor yanukovych, moscow increased gas prices by 80% and putin wants europe to help ukraine pay its growing bills. >> it might be disappointing for the protesters held up but in several locations across the southeast. it's revealed that only about 25% of the population of this region actually wants a federal system. and that's one of the main demands of the pro-russian protesters what people favor is a decentralized system in ukraine, one by which they can deal with their own local governance without referring back to kiev. interestingly enough, there is a tiny minority, about 7%, beli

adrian brown has their story >> reporter: it is one of the saddest places on earth, the gymnasium that is now a temporary home to families of the missing and where grief is all around you. among those in enduring another agonizing day, kim jun wa, whose 16-year-old daughter, kim pinara remains uned for. these are rebate pictures of kim on her left, a daughter her mother describes as intelligent, optimistic and above all, fun. >> she was a daughter and a friend. >> the daughter she wants to believe is still alive. kim, a devout christian got the last call from her daughter at 9:56 a.m. on wednesday morning, when the ferry was already listing dangerously to one side. >> is he said, mom, quickly, pray to god. we are also praying. so, i hope god is protecting her. if god decides to take her, there is nothing i can do. >> she is getting by on two hours' sleep a day and spends most of her time watching the rolling news coverage of the disaster. >> they have been through the full range of emotions, anger, denial and now increasingly for some, acceptance that they may never see their child aga

adrian brown reports from jinned u, clo -- jinnedo. >> the uncertainty over fate has turned to anger. when authorities tried to brief them on thursday morning, fights broke out. the >> officials decided transport them to the site of the sinking. hundreds of people are missing. one senior rescuer said it's unlikely many survivors will be found. the prime minister said there's not a moment to lose. there is hope that some may be alive inside the hull of the ferry, surviving in an air pocket. overnight strong tides prevented divers getting inside. the opener of the ferry said slowly. >> translation: we deeply apologise to families. i am saying again we are sorry, our company will promise to do our best to not lose more lives. >> that it's unclear what caused the ferry to list. some passengers were told not to leave the ship as it was taking on water and dangerous. the rescue will attempt to get air into the ship giving divers a chance to get inside. they believe if people are alive they'll be in the restaurant or computer games area. >> we have heard about conditions that are hindering r

adrian brown reports from jindo. close to the rescue efforts. >> more than a day since the ferry sank, and for some of the family the uncertainty over their fate turned to anger. when officials tried to brief them about rescue efforts on thursday, fights broke out. officials decided to transport them to the site of the sinking to see the rescue efforts for themselves. hundreds of people are missing, and one senior rescuer said it's unlikely many more survivors will be found. but the prime minister has said there's not a moment to lose. one hope is that some people may still be alive inside the hull of the stricken ferry, surviving in an air pocket. overnight strong currents prevented divers getting deep inside the vessel to find out. the cap that owns the -- company that owns the vessel said sorry to family of those on board. >> translation: we deeply are sorry, we are really sorry. we'll do our best not to lose more lives. we are sorry. >> it's still unclear as to what caused the ferry to list and capsize in apparen

adrian brown, al jazeera, south korea. >> meanwhile, the search also continues for flight 370 where officials say the next two days are critical. malaysian transport minister said the underwater drone search should be over next week. they're scouring six miles of indian ocean based on where pings are heard. they're confident that those sounds came from the planes black box. >> the narrowing of the search for today and tomorrow is at a very critical juncture. i plead for everyone around the world to pray, and pray hard for our work over the next couple of base. >> the transportation minister said that the search crews may need to change their approach if they don't find anything soon, but they vow not to give up. >> search teams in nepal are serving fosearching for vings oe worth avalanche to hit the mountain. >>> in response to crisis in ukraine. this comes after months of insistence from the kremlin that their presence was merely an exercise. president of ukraine, the agreement to de-escalate has had very little impact so far. >> the protesters remain holed in the buildings they have seize.

. >> we can now take you live to south korea where we join our correspondent adrian brown, who has beenovering the rescue operation of the sunken ferry. we hear that divers have been able to get into parts of the boats. we're expecting the death, the number of people they find to rise dramatically. >> reporter: that's right. the death toll has been rising steadily throughout the day, and i think it's going to continue rising tonight here in south korea, and also into tomorrow. what is clear is that the divers are now able to reach other parts of the vessel that they haven't been able to up until now. they may have even gone as far as the games room in the cafeteria where it was assumed that many of the people we hoped were survivors were. but this is increasingly turning into a recovery operation. bodies have been brought ashore, recovered bodies have been brought ashore all day. we've seen this steady procession of body bags being stretchered assure. it's been taken to a nearby mothemortuary, where they've ben identified and then taken to a nearby hospital. there is a tent nearby with

. >> and i'm adrian brown live in jindo south korea, where parents are watching the bodies of their children brought ashore - four days after the ferry sank. i'll have the latest.

adrian brown, al jazeera, south korea. >> meanwhile, president obama will pay his respects to the ferrytims when he arrives in that country later this week. it's one of his stops on his asian trip. his first order of business an informal dinner with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. the report that the president has a lot of fences to mend. >> reporter: it's said that actions speak louder than words. what could happen to the much rebalancing in asia. the top diplomat hillary clinton explained the new direction saying just as asia is critical to america's future and engaged america it's vital to asia's future. >> obama could not come last october because of the government shutdown, fiscal difficulties. this is a big problem for asia to find this pivot in rebound, we need to see more delivery. >> reporter: government in north and southeast asia want obama to time balance. some say the pentagon has not gone far enough and the u.s. has more limited resources. but washington does not want to antagonize china unnecessarily. economics leads the way for washington which leads to justify the p

. >> 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 e

. >>> and another of our correspondent is adrian brown. rian bring us up to speed on the rescue forts and the investigation into the accident. >> well, the round the clock operation goes on. it is an enormous rescue operation. they are working under giant flood lights at the moment because they are involved in a frantic race against time. it is almost three days since the ferry sank, and the hopes are fading of finding alive anymore people. but the rescuers still believe there is a faint chance there could still be some survivors. they may be trapped in an air pocket or in some sealed room. today the drivers were not able to venture into the center of the vessel, where if there are survivors that's where they think they will be. they weren't able to get there because of the floating debris and the current is very strong. >> mean while, adrian, details have been released of the latest radio contact between the ferry and maritime control. >> that's right. this is compelling and chilling stuff. and this has been released in just the last few h

adrian brown reports. >> reporter: the family of 16-year-old kim can now at least mourn their belovedr. i last spoke to her mother on saturday when she still wanted to believe her child would make it. she was close to embarking on a year of exams. her family is left to reflect on the lost dreams and ambitions. >> translator: she was very good at design, so he thought she would work as an architect. we wanted to support here in that. >> reporter: the funeral is taking place in the memorial room of a local hospital where the family of this 16-year-old gathered. she wanted to become a composer. reminders of children now lost forever. it's the community that's been crushed by grief. at a makeshift memorial at a local sports complex, there was a steady procession of mourners. the majority of the dead are students from the local high school. funerals is one of the few occasions in south korea where people are expected to express their feelings. it has been an exce except -except -- except -- exceptionally draining week. many hope the area will recover after losing so many young people. >> t

. >> our adrian brown in south korea. >>> protesters are standing their ground in eastern ukraine. however, the gas bill is growing huge. >> that's why we call on all european countries, all countries interested in the support of the ukrainian economy to join the process of support for ukraine and work out measures aimed at financing its budget. we are ready to wait for one more month. >> president putin also admitthe ukraine crisis is the reason why thousands of russian soldiers are along the border. with tension still running high, pro-russian protesters are not backing down. more from hoda from donetske. >> protesters are holed up not only in donetske but several locations in the southeast. it is revealed only 25% of the population in the region actually want the federal system. what people favor is a decentralized system in ukraine, one by which they can sort of deal with their own local governance without always referring back to kiev. interesting enough, that poll reveals that tiny minority, about 7% believes that russian language is any kind of threat in this region and the

a adrian brown, al jazeera, south kor korea. >> the search for flight 370, malaysia's transport ministry said the underwater drone search should be over by next week. they are scanning six miles of the indian ocean based upon where sonar pings were heard. australian officials are confident the sounds came from the flight's black box. >> the narrowing of the search for today and tomorrow is at a very critical juncture. so, i appeal to everybody around the world to pray and pray hard that with find something to work on over the next couple of days. >> the transportation minister added search crews may need to change their approach if they don't soon find anything. but he promised not to give up. searchers on mount everest are digging on snow to find three people missing after an avalanche. 13 sherpa guides died yesterday. their bodies have been returned to relatives. they were fixing ropes for other climbers when the avalanche hit. earlier, al jazeera spoke to ed marsek who knew 1 of the sherpas who died. >> they believe the world should know about the conditions that they work under. to e

adrian brown, al jazeera, ginbo, south korea. >> syrian activists are accusing government forces of using chlorine gas in an attack in the northern city of hamar. doctors say they have treated at least 100 people for suffocation. they are blaming the use of so-called barrel bombs, packed with ex mroetsives and dropped from helicopters. plosives and from helicopters. u.n. says as of saturday, palestinians in at a time refugee camp will have no food. the organization says for the past 10 days, it has been prevented from providing aid there. the food parcels it delivered ran out on friday. the camp is in damascus and was set up for palestinian refugees. before the war began in 2011, it was home to about 170,000 people. the majority have fled leaving 18,000 palestinians trapped with limited access to food, clean water and medicine. they have been living for months with no electricity and heating. the shortage of food has seen huge crowds turn out for the u.n.'s food parcels. aid workers are warning up to 2 million syrian children may need psychological help because of the conflict. some child

adrian brown, al jazeera, jinbo, south korea. >> the hunt for flight mh370 has reached a critical stage. the under water search was narrowed down to 10 kilometers after signals were detelled from what's thought to be the black box shortly before its battery died. this fades is expected to be completed within the coming days. the jet carrying 239 people has been missing isn't march 8thths. >> the narrowing of the search for today and tomorrow is at a very critical juncture, so i appeal to everybody around the world to pray and pray hard that we find something to work on over the next couple of days. >> in iraq, four people have been killed in two explosions in southern baghdad. police say two bombs went off in a street full of shoppers in a mainly sunni neighborhood. the explosions damaged nearby shops and tore up parts of the roads. eight people were injured. >>> two people have been killed by an apparent car bomb in bahrain. the interior ministry says signs of explosives were found inside the car. united nations refugee camp has run out of food. they were allowed to deliver aid but in

. >> we will spoke to adrian brown and we have seen a steady stream of bodies being recovered from the and bring us up to date and is there any hope that somehow, somewhere there could be survivors left on that ferry? >> reporter: well, you know, you speak to some family members and you really realize there is a dilemma that is dividing the families at the moment. one group says we want the salvage operation to begin before the bodies start to decompose but other families say we don't want to risk moving the vessel in any way in case we injure somebody who still might be alive and there are people who hold out hope that a survivor could be in an air pocket somewhere but i have to say that is a long hope and this is a full on recovery operation and bodies have been brought ashore but not as many as yesterday but divers have been able to enter the restaurant area and they think that is possibly where some of the survivors might have been if indeed they are still alive. so that is the focus of the operations at the moment. the other area where they think there might possibly be survivors