The inquest into the death of Philip Mawer, who was killed by an RPG, fleeing during the terrorist attack on Palma in northern Mozambique in March 2021, concluded yesterday.
Francesca Wiley KC, leading Katelyn Gottschling and Iain Daniels, has acted on behalf of Mr Mawer’s family throughout the proceedings. They were instructed by David Phillips of Simons Muirhead Burton.
Mr Mawer, a British project manager employed by RA International, was killed when Isis-backed group Al-Shabaab launched a coordinated attack on the town of Palma, close to the site of a major natural gas project, operated by French energy giant Total Energies, through it’s Mozambican subsidiary. The attack, described as the largest terrorist attack since 9/11, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1400 people.
The inquest examined the circumstances surrounding Mr Mawer’s death and heard evidence about events leading up to and during the attack, including that all energy companies and the Mozambique government had ordered the evacuation of staff from the area due to escalating terrorist activity, including shootings and beheadings.
However some personnel returned to normal working arrangements ahead of the attack. The inquest also examined why fuel and landing rights were not provided by Total’s subsidiary to the Dyck Advisory Group for helicopters used to evacuate contractors and locals trapped by the siege.
The Coroner concluded that Mr Mawer was unlawfully killed finding he had “gallantly” given up his place on one of the limited rescue helicopters to enable women and children to be evacuated.
Read more in the press here:
- AFP
- Politico
- The Times (Paywall)
- Financial Times
- Independent
- BBC
- Sky
