20,000 Syrians flee east Aleppo in 48 hours: Red Cross

Some 20,000 people have fled intensified attacks on opposition-held eastern Aleppo in Syria in the past 48 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the aid agency said that civilians must be allowed "safe passage" out of the eastern sector and that it stood ready to organise medical evacuations of sick and wounded.

Between July and mid-November, more than 40,000 people fled areas of fighting in and near the government-controlled western part of Aleppo, it said, bringing the total who have left Syria's biggest pre-war city to 60,000 in the last five months.