TBILISI, August 10, 2008 (AFP) - As helicopter gunships hovered Sunday over Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, newly occupied by Russian forces, a stream of bedraggled people fled the area, testifying to days of heavy bombardment.

Witnesses spoke of hiding in basements for days as explosions roared overhead, homes burning to rubble and Russian helicopters swooping down over villages.

When Mzia Sabashvili crawled out of the basement of her home near South Ossetia's main city of Tskhinvali on Saturday, she saw that her village no longer existed.

She and a few neighbours fled with nothing, not even their passports, and hitched a ride to Georgia's capital Tbilisi where they stood Sunday in searing sun on the steps of parliament waiting for the government to help them.

'I saw the Russian helicopters swoop down and bomb us with my own eyes. It was terrifying so I hid in the basement for three days. I know that lots of my neighbours are dead, I have no idea who is left,' she said.

Desperation and heat were fraying tempers outside parliament in Tbilisi, where around 150 people had gathered by lunchtime. Some bickered over space while listless children slumped on the steps.

'We have nowhere to go, I don't want to be standing here helpless, but we have nowhere else to go,' said Sabashvili.

There was a large police presence despite the relatively small numbers.

On the road heading away from the conflict zone in South Ossetia, an old man who gave his name as Pavlik stopped to recount his ordeal to AFP.

'They bombed us, we're being driven away. We don't know where we're running to,' he said, his voice shaking and on the verge of tears. 'Who'll take us in? The place was in flames and we couldn't stay.'

Others were crammed into ramshackle cars, tiny minibuses or on foot. Many were struggling to carry their possessions in rough packages on their backs.

Georgian troops had withdrawn Sunday from Tskhinvali, leaving Russian troops in control. Russian helicopters patrolled the area.

Two helicopters buzzed an AFP photographer and driver travelling along the road from Tskhinvali to Gori Sunday morning.

'They were very close, it felt like they were right above our heads and we could hear firing coming from somewhere, although the helicopters weren't firing at us,' said the driver. 'I think they just wanted to look at us'.

Villages close to Tskhinvali were already almost completely deserted, he added.

Bombs also began falling in Zugdidi, a town on the border with Georgia's other breakaway region of Abkhazia early Sunday morning, a resident said.

'I heard the sound of planes flying over Zugdidi sometime between six and seven in the morning,' Zugdidi resident Rusudan Gakhari told AFP by telephone.

'I heard at least six explosions within the space of half an hour. People are afraid but there's no panic, we're staying inside.'

Georgia's Rustavi 2 television channel showed footage Sunday morning of Russian helicopters flying low over Zugdidi.

'The outskirts of Zugdidi were bombarded by the Russians. We peaceful citizens are feeble and helpless,' resident Aznor Kotria told the channel.

In between news broadcasts, Rustavi 2 has been repeatedly showing US war films such as 'Top Gun' and 'Full Metal Jacket'.

Central Tbilisi has been untouched by the bombardment although Russian planes bombed a military airport outside Tbilisi overnight.