GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday they feared for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped by fighting in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown. Local staff of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees in Freetown were reporting that people were trapped in their homes without water and electricity, and unable to go and search for food. "They say a humanitarian disaster is looming in the capital unless some kind of ceasefire is arranged and humanitarian supplies can be brought in," UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski told a news briefing in Geneva. "The situation is quite terrifying for civilians. People are holed up, and are not in a position to move out of their homes, let alone flee the capital. That may explain while so few people have moved out." There had been virtually no refugee exodus and a mere 450 Sierra Leoneans were known to have requested asylum in neighbouring Guinea. Janowski said the situation had in fact been exacerbated by an influx of displaced people — which some estimates put at 350,000 — who had fled to the city in recent weeks to escape the fighting between rebels and a Nigerian-led pro-government intervention force. The ICRC said incessant fire from light and heavy weapons and the destruction of essential infrastructure were giving rise to serious fears for the inhabitants‘ safety. Marked vehicles had been taken by force from both the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society and the ICRC and were being driven around the city. The ICRC has evacuated most of its 20 international staff from Sierra Leone, but five expatriates remain in Freetown along with 200 national staff. "Our delegates have not been able to leave the compound," ICRC spokesman Michael Kleiner told Reuters. At the same time more than 180 people have sought refuge within the compound.