Buses carrying Mariupol residents arrive in Zaporizhzhia - AFP

A column of buses carrying escaped residents of  Mariupol has arrived in Zaporizhzhia to the northwest, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

The buses carried people who had been able to flee Mariupol to Berdiansk and from there were bussed to Zaporizhzhia, more than 200km (120 miles) northwest of the besieged city, the evacuees and officials said.