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The evacuation of east Aleppo has
been halted, with reports of shooting and rebels accused of failing to
respect a deal to lift sieges of their own.
Among the evacuees are at least 2,700 children, a UN agency reports. But thousands of cold and hungry civilians remain stranded in the rebel-held east, waiting to be picked up.
"Aleppo is now a synonym for hell," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York, urging a resumption of the evacuation.
US President Barack Obama accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Russia and Iran of "atrocities", saying the world was "united in horror" at the situation.
He admitted he felt responsibility for the situation but defended what he called his country's "best course" over the crisis.
France is calling on the UN Security Council to ensure the operation is co-ordinated by international observers, with humanitarian aid allowed into the city and hospitals given protection.
Four years of vicious fighting in eastern Aleppo left thousands dead, destroyed hospitals and wiped out food supplies.
The battle to control Aleppo may have reached its end, but there is still a fight over the process meant to rescue civilians while it also brings out the combatants, the BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, reports from Beirut.