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, telling of days of heavy bombardment.

Many sought shelter in Tbilisi, but as night fell a series of bombs were dropped on the outskirts of the capital, near a military air field and Georgia's main international airport.

Witnesses returning from near South Ossetia spoke of hiding in basements for days as explosions erupted overhead, of homes burning to the ground 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 without even their passports and hitched a ride to Tbilisi, where they stood Sunday on the steps of the parliament waiting for the government to help.

'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,' she said.

'I know that lots of my neighbours are dead. I have no idea who is left.'

Desperation and the 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.

'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 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 struggled to carry their possessions in rough packages on their backs.

Georgian troops withdrew 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.

On the outskirts of Tbilisi, Ibragim Guliyev was only a few hundred metres away when a Russian plane descended and dropped three bombs over a military airport and aircraft factory.

Asked if he planned to flee his nearby home, Guliyev, 51, said: 'Where can I go? I have the children here. I have no car. I will stay.'

Bombs also fell on the town of Zugdidi, 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'.