A three-year-old migrant has allegedly been raped by multiple people at an asylum centre in the Norwegian city of Stavanger.

Police are investigating the incident amid claims the boy was abused in the shared common area of the asylum centre, possibly within view of many people.

“We have no suspects yet,” police superintendent Bjørn Kåre Dahl told local paper Stavanger Aftenblad. “We are investigating the case as if the worst thing has happened and that we are talking about the rape of a child.”

He did not rule out that there may be several perpetrators: “We will investigate further to find out what happened. If it is what we fear – a rape – then this is very serious. But we do not know for certain yet.”

The Local reports the boy has been taken to a rape crisis centre along with his mother and is now at the children’s ward in Stavanger Hospital. He has been questioned by authorities along with several others.

“We also had crime technicians on the site. Material was sent to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health for analysis. There, they will look for DNA among other things,” Mr Dahl added.

“We had many people at work, both sanitation workers and security guards, but nobody saw anything. But we immediately took the case to the police, as is the routine, and they came out. We have had a good dialogue with them throughout.”

A spokesman for the asylum centre said they received a phone call about the incident last Wednesday, but did not want to go into details about the conversation.

“We had many people at work, both sanitation workers and security guards, but nobody saw anything. But we immediately took the case to the police, as is the routine, and they came out. We have had a good dialogue with them throughout,” the spokesman added.

There are around 800 migrants at the asylum centre, including men, women and children. The boy was reportedly at the centre with his family.