Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the main hospital in Tskhinvali to assess medical and surgical needs in South Ossetia's capital, a spokeswoman said.
The ICRC team of seven expatriates and 10 nationals arrived in the city late on Wednesday after trying for a week to reach the breakaway Georgian province, which is under Russia's military control.
"The team spent the night after reaching the ICRC office in Tskhinvali. Now the hard work starts -- evaluating the needs and dealing with protection issues," ICRC spokeswoman Anna Nelson told Reuters in Geneva.
"They are visiting the main hospital which was damaged and evaluating the state of facilities," she said.
The ICRC officials brought a "war-wounded kit", which normally contains enough medical and surgical supplies to treat 25 people, Nelson added.
Russia says 1,600 people, mainly civilians, were killed when Georgian forces tried on Aug. 7-8 to recapture the pro-Moscow province, which broke away from Georgia in the 1990s. The figure has not been independently verified. ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger sought access to South Ossetia for the neutral humanitarian agency in his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday.
The ICRC convoy of five vehicles reached South Ossetia via Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia, part of the Russian Federation. During the seven-hour drive, they saw burnt-out cars and "got an overall feeling of desolation," Nelson said.
Residents of Tskhinvali immediately approached the ICRC team for help in locating missing family members, she said.
"Some knew their family had gotten out and reached safe shelter and wanted to re-establish contact, others were saying they didn't know what happened to their loved ones," she said.
ICRC officials were also holding talks with South Ossetian authorities to gain access to people detained or arrested in connection with the conflict, according to the spokeswoman.
"Overnight they heard isolated shooting as well as explosions which, it seems, were part of demining efforts. It has got residents on edge," Nelson said.
"Store shelves appear to be empty. But they got the impression that the Russian government was very present and providing assistance and meeting basic needs," she said.
The ICRC team was working on public messages to explain to civilians the danger posed by unexploded munitions left over from the fighting, she said.