Man killed by insurgents gave up helicopter place
Mawer had worked for construction firm RA International in the African country for 18 months.
Man killed by insurgents gave up helicopter place
Philip Mawer prioritised women and children over himself, the coroner said
A British man who was killed while trying to escape from a Mozambican hotel under siege by insurgents had given up his place on a rescue helicopter the day before, a coroner said.
Philip Mawer was working in Palma, in the north of the African country, when Islamist militants attacked in March 2021.
The 58-year-old, from Shaftesbury, Dorset, was in a convoy of vehicles that had left the Amarula Hotel amid fears it would be overrun by rebel fighters.
Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg, who ruled that Mawer was unlawfully killed, said he "gallantly" gave up his place on the helicopter, enabling women, children and the sick to be evacuated first.
Pegg said Mawer also turned down a seat in an armoured vehicle in the convoy, instead opting to travel in his own "soft-skin" vehicle with two passengers.
Mawer had spent 18 months working for construction firm RA International in the country, overseeing the building of camps for workers involved in a nearby natural gas project.
Speaking to Mawer's two brothers, who were present at the inquest in Winchester, Pegg said: "Your brother was a true leader. He put his team and others first before himself and he did so at a time when it's quite likely, very likely, he would have been in fear.
"Despite the threat to Philip personally, despite the hostile environment in which he found himself, Philip had the character, the gallantry, to put women and children first and I am sure you two brothers and the wider family are proud of Philip and rightly so."
The inquest heard that the Mozambican government had hired the South Africa-based Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) to supply armoured helicopters to assist in its battle against the insurgency.
Pegg said that although DAG helicopters evacuated 24 people from the hotel, their operations were controlled by the Mozambican police and they were not free to carry out additional evacuation missions.
More than 6,000 people are believed to have died since the Islamic insurgency began in the Cabo Delgado province in 2017.
Mawer's brother, William, told the hearing that he was "an absolutely amazing individual and his key characteristics were his incredible generosity, his lust for life, his sense of humour and his ability to get things done in really crazy difficult situations."