In pictures: Civilians flee fighting

People leave the South Ossetian village of Troiavi, 10 August 2008

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR says it is gravely concerned about the plight of thousands of civilians caught up in the fighting in and around South Ossetia.

A woman from South Ossetia sorts through her belongings in the refugees camp near the village of Alagir near the Georgian border

Thousands have fled South Ossetia - some to other places in Georgia, others to North Ossetia in Russia, the agency says.

People flee on a tractor with their belongings in South Ossetia near the village of Troiavi, 10 August 2008

Refugee Commissioner Antonio Guterres has called for civilians to be granted safe passage to areas of safety.

People flee on a tractor in South Ossetia near the village of Troiavi on 10 August 2008

The agency has called on Georgian and Russian forces to implement an agreement to allow refugees from South Ossetia to escape to safety along the Didi Liakhvi Gorge.

Two South Ossetian women and a boy reads lists of refugees in the refugee camp near the village of Alagir near the Georgian border

Unconfirmed estimates suggest between 40,000 and 50,000 of South Ossetia's 70,000 inhabitants have fled.

People flee on an old Soviet-built car in South Ossetia near the village of Troiavi, 10 August 2008

The UNHCR is sending a team to the Georgian town of Gori - which was bombed by Russian planes on Saturday - to assess needs there, and intends to resume aid convoys as soon as possible.

Georgian refugees sit next to their belongings in central Tbilisi

A UNHCR spokesman in Georgia says about 46,000 people have fled from their homes in Gori. Many are now in search of shelter.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks with South Ossetian refugees who fled to Vladikavkaz, the provincial capital of the Russian region of North Ossetia, 9 August 2008