Much more is yet to be explained.
Andre is a foreign contractor who does not want to reveal his real name for fear of consequences. The memories of his three-day ordeal are etched in his mind.
He and his team worked a few kilometers north of Palma on the large complex run by the French oil company Total.
It was early afternoon and he had just taken a shower at the Amarula Hotel when he first heard gunfire. The hotel is just one of the handful in the area and popular with contractors.
Palma was attacked from three directions by Islamic militants known locally as Shabaab – or the youth.
Shabaab has been waging a brutal campaign in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique for four years, but so far almost all of its attacks have been on towns, the province’s Christian population and security forces.
Things started to unravel quickly when other foreigners who lived or were living in Palma started arriving at the hotel and seeking shelter.
Shortly thereafter, the militants destroyed a local cell tower and communications declined.
Desperate calls for help
Inside the hotel, guests and staff did what they could to pull the insurgents to the hotel. All services, including food preparation, were suspended and electricity was cut off to reduce noise.
“We tried all afternoon to get help,” Andre says. Some guests with satellite phones called everyone they could. But because the local army was quickly overwhelmed and no help came from the Total complex, dozens of foreigners and Mozambicans began to strike down – praying that they would survive the night.
“We spent the night under heavy fire,” he recalls.
Audio and video obtained by CNN from someone in the hotel tell of a terrifying scene, with loud bursts of gunshots dividing the night.
The next morning, the first helicopters began hovering over Palma, some shooting at insurgents and others snatching a few to safety.
The helicopters belong to a South African military contractor, the Dyck Advisory Group (DAG).
“Some DAG helicopters attacked insurgent positions that were close to the hotel,” Andre said.
DAG CEO Lionel Dyck said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday that his men became aware of people being locked up in the hotel while “flying around Palma in search of terrorists.”
“One of my pilots ended up inside the site at the hotel that afternoon and said he was going to take people out,” Dyck said.
“One helicopter undertook four trips and rescued six people per trip, 24 in total,” says Andre. “We selected people with disabilities, illnesses, the oldest and let them go first.”
But dozens were left behind – under siege.
Andre, who is in his 50s, was one of the next group of six to be rescued. But he says the DAY hijackers did not return that day.
“The last helicopter leaving at 2.30pm, at 3.30pm, we realized they were not coming back,” he says. “We kept calling, but on the other hand we were told that the helicopters were gone to refuel.”
‘Bullets fly overhead’
In his interview with CNN, Dyck explained that daylight was the main issue. “[My pilot] took out 20 or 22 people, “he said. Then it was too dark, and we had to get out. “
Dyck says his crew members still undertook their flights to Palma and rescued civilians almost a week after the rebels first arrived.
Andre faced another night and did not know if the terrorists would raid the hotel.
“All the time bullets were flying overhead and hitting trees. We could hear explosions in the area, there was real panic,” he says. “It was even more chaotic when we realized we would have to spend another night in the hotel.”
The food was scarce and there was no sign of the Mozambican army or police.
“We tried at all costs to get help. We each called their contact, whoever they may be, but on the other end of the line, not everyone was available to help,” Andre said. “It was awful.
“We heard them screaming from Allah-Akbar (” God is great “, in Arabic) all night. All night,” he says. ‘But we succeeded; and the next morning everyone lived. ‘
He still does not understand why the rebels did not attack the hotel.
“We were not killed because they did not want to kill us,” he said, wondering if the rebels had been told to hold back. “They were in the hotel, they could have shot us if they wanted to,” he said.
A scary escape
Early Friday, Andre and the remaining guests began thinking of ways to escape. ‘We debated whether we should stop, and wait for them to attack us and slaughter like lambs, or we should run for it.
“Around 11am, the helicopters returned and we thought the evacuation would resume, but we thought the helicopters had returned to carry out more strikes,” Andre said.
“We realized we could not stay there.”
A convoy of 17 vehicles was assembled.
“The first car of the column was an armored vehicle and in that car we put all the women and children, and it was the car that led the convoy,” Andre explained. “I was right behind that car right away.”
Andre prepares his bakkie. About 25 people got stuck in it, some stuck to the top of the vehicle.
By noon, the convoy struck a little to safety and headed north in the direction of Tanzania.
“There was no immediate fire when we left the hotel. I think they were surprised, they did not expect us to leave in those circumstances.”
But a few minutes later, the convoy fell into a trap.
“The shooting started when we were climbing on the dirt road,” Andre said. ‘One kilometer later I feel cracks bursting on top of the bakkie, luckily they did not hit me.
“Another 500 meters and the armored car is hit by a bazooka. It staggered a bit, but it could still continue,” Andre adds.
Then he was hit – a bullet that penetrated the car door and hit his leg.
“There was blood everywhere,” he said, his voice trembling. “I asked the person next to me to hold the steering wheel, and I could only drive three kilometers with only one leg.”
Along the way, they see corpses in the middle of the road. “I did not count them, but there were many.”
“My leg was destroyed”
Andre and the rest of the convoy drove north until they reached a fishing village near the Tanzanian border, and only stopped when Andre almost fainted due to blood loss.
“My leg was destroyed,” he says.
Only when they reached the beach did the group realize that many of the vehicles had not made it.
“Of the 15 cars, only eight entered the beach. The others fell behind,” Andre explained.
Many of the occupants of the convoy are still inexplicable – one week later.
Mozambique’s army (FDS), which responded to the attacks, lamented the deaths of “a group of civilians who rushed in a vehicle convoy to leave the hotel”.
Dyck says they told people hiding in the hotel that they would be there the next morning, but the residents decided to make a turn for it.
“They decided not to wait – maybe they had better information, but we knew that the terrorists were outside and that we had shot at a number of them and that they had involved us from outside.”
The group was eventually picked up by small boats that took them south to Afungi, and Andre was later transported to a hospital in South Africa.
He faces more surgeries and a long rehabilitation. Despite his ordeal, Andre plans to return to Mozambique.
“Mozambique is a beautiful country. The problem, as in many other places around the world, is very different.”