GENEVA, November 18, 2004 - Relief organizations estimate up to 250,000 Iraqis have fled Fallujah to nearby villages and Baghdad, but the groups have not been able to assess the refugees' needs because of fighting around the former insurgent bastion, a U.N. official said Thursday.

Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees in Amman, Jordan, said there didn't appear to be an immediate threat of a lack of food because most of those who fled either took supplies with them or are being fed by their hosts.

She said relief workers think most of the displaced people are staying with friends or relatives in nearly a dozen villages around Fallujah and worry that the increased population may be overwhelming water and sanitation facilities in some areas.

"We hope that we can access these people soon to know what the exact needs are and to make sure that these needs are met," van Genderen Stort said. "The access is very difficult. You just can't give the support you would give in an ordinary refugee crisis."

The Iraqi Red Crescent, with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross, distributed some food, blankets and other supplies to two of the villages Thursday, said Rana Sidani, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Geneva.

Van Genderen Stort said representatives of about 10 major relief groups met in Amman on Thursday to compare notes and try to plan how to help civilians affected by the Fallujah battle.

"We're concerned about the limited access to people inside Fallujah and the displaced populations around because of the security situation," she told The Associated Press. "As a result we have no clear picture of the exact needs."

She said there were no independent figures on how many people were killed during more than a week of fighting between U.S.-led forces and insurgents in Fallujah, which is estimated to have a population of 200,000 to 300,000. U.S. commanders have estimated about 1,200 insurgents were killed, but have given no figures on civilian deaths.

"Access is still difficult," van Genderen Stort said. "We have not been able to get into Fallujah. The Ministry of Health went in twice. They say that now access to the hospitals should be possible."

The Iraqi Red Crescent visited Fallujah General Hospital on Monday and found no patients being treated because it had been impossible to reach the facility from the combat zone in the main part of the city, which is on the other side of the Euphrates River.

The Red Crescent had hoped to take in relief supplies and ambulances to bring out the wounded, but had to turn back because of the security situation, officials said.