In Georgia, refugees overwhelm relief efforts

More relief supplies on the way
In the Upper Kodori Valley, in Georgia's northwest corner on the border with the breakaway region of Abkhazia, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency said 1,500 people had been evacuated, many to the Georgian town of Zugdidi.

For those still in South Ossetia — people who had not fled into Georgia proper or north into Russia — there are no refugee camps, said Andrei Pilipchuk, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry in South Ossetia.

"People who went north either went to their relatives' or refugee camps," he said. "People who were left homeless and are still in South Ossetia are living with their relatives or neighbors."

In Tbilisi, the U.N. had plans to send a second cargo plane of relief supplies Thursday. Another arrived Wednesday. Together they were to contain 70 tons of tents, cooking kits, blankets and other supplies that came from central stockpiles in Dubai and Copenhagen. A massive U.S. aid effort is also under way.

Red Cross spokesman Yuri Shakarenko said the agency was still in negotiations with the Russian authorities for access to South Ossetia.

More from msnbc.com Thanksgiving is about odd family dynamics Swine flu fears for hajj pilgrims First Read: Pardon my turkey, and other trivia 570,000 pager messages from 9/11 released   Silver Lining: Tales of struggle and hope On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM EUROPE

Europe Section Front

Putin's rare Siberian tiger 'alive and well' French debate their identity Polanski could be out of jail in coming days   Rocket man fails to fly from Morocco to Spain Italy finds proposed lunch ban hard to digest Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ fetches $172,000 U.K. cops arrest people ‘just for the DNA’ Europe Section Front   Add Europe headlines to your news reader: