Aid flows in for those fleeing Kyrgyzstan violence

CNN Wire Staff

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://www.cnn.com/video/world/2010/06/16/chance.uzbek.refugees.cnn.576×324.jpg caption="Death toll at 179, Kyrgyz media reports; the Red Cross estimate is higher." width=300 height=169]

Osh, Kyrgyzstan (CNN) - The first United Nations aid plane arrived Wednesday in Uzbekistan to help the thousands of people who have fled ethnic clashes in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, officials with a U.N. Refugee agency said.

The U.N. cargo plane carrying about 800 lightweight tents will add to a growing effort to try and aid the estimated 100,000 people who have fled fighting in Kyrgyzstan to refugee camps in Uzbekistan. Several countries, including the United States and Russia, have also sent aid.

Relative calm continued in Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second largest city, Wednesday. But sporadic gunfire could be heard.

The Central Asian nation's news agency 24.kg reported that the death toll had risen to 179, a number that some observers discounted as low.

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