Brit contractor, 58, was killed by RPG while making desperate escape from hotel during ISIS massacre in Mozambique

A BRIT project manager was blown up by an RPG as he made a desperate dash from a hotel besieged by ISIS-linked terrorists, an inquest heard. Philip Mawer, 58, was killed instantly when the rocket smashed into his vehicle as he fled the terror-hit town of Palma, Mozambique. Philip Mawer, 58, was killed instantly when the rocket smashed into his vehicle as he fled the terror-hit town Credit: RA International Mr Mawer, who was helping prepare fore the gas operation became trapped at the hotel on March 24, 2021 Credit: pixel8000 The Brit had spent two days holed up inside the Amarula Hotel after Al-Shabaab gunmen stormed the area. Harrowing evidence heard at his inquest revealed workers had already known of weekly attacks around Palma – including villagers being herded onto a football pitch and beheaded. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! But work on a huge gas project continued after the terror threat was judged low enough for staff to stay. Mr Mawer, who was helping prepare fore the gas operation became trapped at the hotel on March 24, 2021 during the massacre. His friend and fellow project manager Gordon Rhattigan said: “It was chaotic at the time. “It was a very fluid situation so it was changing every 30 seconds or minute.” RA International, where Mr Mawer was country manager, advised him to remain inside the hotel while they were able to communicate with him. The following day, South African private military company Dyck Advisory Group evacuated 23 people from the hotel – but Mr Mawer declined to leave with them. Most read in The Sun But with the deadly siege tightening around him, he joined a convoy making a desperate break for freedom on March 26. Shortly after setting off, an RPG tore into the doomed vehicle carrying him and exploded. Fighters near the strategic north eastern Mozambique town of Palma, as the militant group claimed it had taken control of the area after five days of conflict Credit: AP A car involved in an ambush on a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians who had been sheltering in a hotel in Palma, lies wrecked on the side of the road, in Mozambique Credit: Reuters The blast ripped off his left arm and caused catastrophic injuries to his spine and brain stem. Home Office pathologist Dr Russell Delaney said the Brit would have been knocked unconscious and killed instantly. He told Winchester Coroner’s Court: “There was instant catastrophic haemorrhage, spinal cord and brain stem damage which would have caused instant unconscious and death. “These injuries were not survivable.” The powerful shoulder-fired weapon was built to punch through inches of armour. Dr Delaney said: “It’s designed to be initiated on impact and a metal jet to pierce armour and penetrate other structures like brick or concrete walls. “It will cause severe damage to things in its path.” Dr Delaney explained that RPGs are shoulder-launched military anti-tank weapons capable of punching through inches of armour. The Brit had spent two days holed up inside the Amarula Hotel Credit: Reuters The blast ripped off his left arm and caused catastrophic injuries to his spine and brain stem Harrowing evidence heard at his inquest revealed workers had already known of weekly attacks around Palma Credit: AP A Rwandan soldier walks in front of a burned truck near Palma Credit: AFP He said: “It’s designed to be initiated on impact and a metal jet to pierce armour and penetrate other structures like brick or concrete walls. “It will cause severe damage to things in its path.” Mr Mawer’s remains were later identified through dental records. The shocking killing came after months of bloodshed around Palma. Mr Rhattigan said workers knew terrorists were striking villages around the area long before the hotel siege. He said: “100 per cent we’d been aware of these issues since November. It hadn’t changed since December. “From the time I got there and well before, Phil had been reporting from RA that there had been weekly attacks and on the outskirts of the village. “There was an instance where they took a village and took all the people to a football field and beheaded them there. “But they then started attacking villages in the north as well as the south.” Mr Mawer had worked in several African nations but had conducted business in Mozambique for 10 years. Workers had been evacuated from the area in December 2020 following an order by energy companies and the Mozambican government. But the evacuation order was lifted the following month and staff went back to work. Mr Rhattigan said the threat remained in the back of their minds — but they believed 700 Mozambican military personnel could protect them. He said: “It was in the backs of all our heads that something could happen but we believed that 700 staff from the Mozambique military was more than adequate to deal with whatever did happen. “The threat was to everybody.” Mr Mawer, originally from Somerset, was an experienced Africa hand who had worked in Mozambique for a decade. He was country manager for RA International and was helping prepare “for the largest gas operation in Africa”. The firm had won a contract to build accommodation for workers at the huge new gas field. RA International boss Soraya Narfeldt said Mr Mawer knew Mozambique inside out and had convinced her he was the man for the job. She said: “He was very much loved, especially in Mozambique. He knew the country so intimately, that’s how he convinced me to give him to job. “The whole team would talk to him between calls.” Mr Rhattigan remembered his friend as a hugely popular figure in Palma. He said: “Philip was very kind, very funny, and very down to earth. He was honest. “I really enjoyed working with him and I had been looking forward to working with him for a while. “He was very well liked and respected by Palma and all the companies there. It’s not the easiest place to work in or get supplies. “He got that it was a community of different companies. He was a really good guy.” Ms Narfeldt added: “My best memory with him was watching world cup rugby with him, and I’d ended up on the Welsh side. He was a great guy.” The five-day inquest continues. Comment now