S. Ossetian official describes flight

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A South Ossetian government official says she and her family fled from their home and witnessed scenes of devastation as they traveled into Russia.

Zarina Sanakoeva, spokeswoman for the head of South Ossetia's separatist government, told the BBC from Vladikavkaz, Russia, capital of North Ossetia, there was no gas, water or cell phone service in Tskhinvali on Friday morning after she had night spent the night in her basement to escape constant shelling. When she emerged, Sanakoeva said, took to the road and passed Russian troops heading into South Ossetia.

"Some of them stopped and asked about the situation in Tskhinvali. They wanted to know what they were heading towards," she told the BBC. "We passed the village of Java, where my grandparents live. Their house has lost its windows and its roof. Twenty meters from their house was a giant crater, where a bomb had landed."

The worst thing, she said, was the fear for her own and others' safety.

"The men in my family are away, fighting. My brother is among them -- I'm worried about him, he doesn't have a mobile phone. I don't know where any of my friends are and I fear the worst," Sanakoeva said.