TENS of thousands of people sought refuge today as border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia entered a second day, heightening fears of a broader conflict.

The United Nations security council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York, while Malaysia, which chairs a regional bloc that includes both countries, called for an end to hostilities and offered to mediate between the two sides.

The Thai Health Ministry today said that more than 58,000 have fled from villages to temporary shelters in four affected border provinces, while Cambodian authorities said more than 4,000 people have evacuated from areas near the border.

The fighting has killed at least 14 people in Thailand, while Cambodia confirmed its first fatality today.

Tensions over a disputed border area erupted into fighting after a land mine explosion along the border on wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday.

The Thai military reported clashes early today in multiple areas, including along the border at Chong Bok and Phu Makhuea in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province, at Phanom Dong Rak in Surin province and near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple.

The Thai army said that Cambodian forces had used heavy artillery and rocket launchers, prompting what Thai officials described as “appropriate supporting fire” in return.

Thailand said that one soldier and 13 civilians were killed, including children, while 15 soldiers and 30 civilians were wounded.

Cambodia’s chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, General Khov Ly, said a man died Thursday after a Thai rocket hit a Buddhist pagoda where he was hiding.

The Thai army denied that it had targeted civilian sites in Cambodia, and accused Cambodia of using human shields by positioning their weapons near residential areas.

Cambodia also claimed that Thai air strikes had landed near the Preah Vihear temple, a Unesco World Heritage site that has been at the centre of past disputes.

The Thai military said that the temple wasn’t in its line of fire and accused Cambodia of distorting facts.

About 600 people took shelter at a gymnasium in a university in Surin, Thailand, about 50 miles from the border.

Seamstress Pornpan Sooksai said that she was doing laundry at her home near Ta Muen Thom temple when shelling began Thursday.

“I just heard, boom, boom. We already prepared the cages, clothes and everything, so we ran and carried our things to the car. I was frightened, scared,” she recalled.

Across the border in Cambodia, a remote Buddhist temple accommodated several hundred evacuated villagers in hammocks and makeshift plastic tents.