DURBAN, South Africa – Xenophobic attacks on foreigners flared up in Durban between Sunday night and early Tuesday, forcing over a hundred foreigners to flee their homes and seek refuge at a police station.

Police said two people were killed and a third injured critically after a foreign shop owner opened fire on a group of thugs who were attempting to loot his shop. Several targeted foreigners were injured.

The first violence broke out in the Kenville area of Durban on Sunday at about 11PM when mobs of protesters burst into the homes of foreign nationals, moving door-to-door and seizing belongings, from beds and TV sets to pots and baskets, before targeting foreign-operated shops.

While police patrols have brought calm to the area, foreign nationals are still too afraid to venture outside and many have fled.

The protesters, numbering about 100, blocked Sea Cow Lake and Inanda roads using rubble from burnt tyres, said Lt-Col Thulani Zwane of KwaZulu Natal police.

“They stoned and damaged passing vehicles, stormed tuck shops and looted them prompting one of the shop owners, a foreign national, to open fire, instantly killing a 22-year-old man. Two others were wounded and one of them later died in hospital,” said Col Zwane.

He said one of the female protesters died after falling off the roof of a shop, which was being looted.

Early Tuesday, at around 2AM, protesters targeted foreigners at the Burnwood informal settlement, also in Durban. They kicked down their doors and ordered them to leave.

“They were forcing the foreign nationals out of their homes. No-one was injured or assaulted at Burnwood. Police had to intervene and monitor the situation,” said Lt-Col Zwane.

Many of those affected fled to Sydenham Police Station. By mid-day on Tuesday, police said the number had swelled to more than 105 people.

While some community members rallied around the group to provide meals, police and city officials scrambled to find shelter for the evening for the group.

“We’re looking for a council-run hall so they have somewhere to stay tonight. We are confident that we will find something,” said Sydenham community policing forum spokesperson, Satish Dhupelia.

Stanley Chilembu from Malawi said that the displaced group was “left with nothing”.

“Some people fled without even their shoes. There are people here who are barefoot, who have left everything. We know that the protesters have broken into our houses and have taken everything. Now we just pray that we have somewhere to stay tonight,” he said.

A Zimbabwean woman, who asked not to be named, said: “The whole house, they looted it – upstairs and downstairs. No-one was left with anything. They stole my neighbour’s vehicle which they were using to ferry the looted goods.

“My baby has no clothes at all, just the pamper she was wearing when they arrived. I ran out barefooted.”

The angry, unemployed residents stormed shacks belonging to foreign nationals accusing them of “stealing their jobs”.