About 200 people went on the rampage, looting shops owned by Somalis in Jeffreys Bay, following the alleged rape of a four-year-old girl, police said on Tuesday.

Police spokesperson Marianette Olivier said residents of the Ocean View and Tokyo Sexwale townships looted the shops and clashed with police.

"When the police arrived they were stoned and the police fired warning shots at the crowd.

"Four police vehicles were damaged and one person was shot. He is in the Livingstone hospital in Port Elizabeth," Olivier said.

She said the Somalis fled to the Jeffreys Bay police station to seek safety.

Olivier said calm had returned to the area.

She said the four-year-old girl and her mother were at the Uitenhage provincial hospital.

"The girl and her mother were taken to the hospital and at this stage I cannot say whether the girl was raped," she said.

Sapa