A man who was shot dead in front of his dad and brother by terrorists while trying to flee a hotel has been described as a "ray of sunshine" by his mum.
Adrian Nel, 40, was shot dead while trying to escape the hotel in the town of Palma, Mozambique, which has been under attack by militants since Wednesday.
According to the victim's mum, Meryl Knox, Adrian was with his dad and younger brother when he was gunned down by what a believed to be Islamic insurgents.
Six others in the same vehicle Adrian and his two family members were in were also killed while trying to flee the hotel, Sky News reports.
Mrs Knox told Sky News her son Adrian, from South Africa, had been in the area since January due to work.
Adrian, a contractor, was described as a "joyful person who brought love and kindness and joy to anyone and everybody he met".
"He has many friends all over the world, relatives just love him to pieces," Mrs Knox told Sky News.
"He's just the heart of the family - a ray of sunshine. When Adrian walked in a room, you were automatically happy."
According to Sky, two Britons, an Irish national and a New Zealand national were saved amid an ongoing search and rescue operation in and around Palma.
A South African private security company claimed a rescue operation had been underway before Adrian was killed, with at least 20 people flown to safety in helicopters.
Mrs Knox said it has been hard to find out information from authorities but believes her son had no other choice but to try and flee by car.
She said: "The evacuation by helicopter wasn't going to happen. The insurgents had surrounded the hotel.
"The only chance they had of getting away was doing a convoy. When they were driving out unfortunately the insurgents ambushed them and my son was shot.
"My husband, my youngest son and Adrian were in the one car."
Mrs Knox was told on Friday a group of people had been killed while attempting to flee the hotel, and it wasn't until the next day that she was told Adrian was among the casualties.
She said her husband and youngest son were not wounded in the attack and "managed to get away". It's believed the pair were rescued on Saturday morning.
The mum claims people remain trapped in the hotel, and called on Mozambique's government to restore order.
The exact number of casualties in Palma as a result of the attack by suspected Islamist insurgents is unclear.
Omar Saranga, a spokesperson from Mozambique's defence department, said on Sunday that dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of others rescued.
“The defence and security forces registered the loss of seven lives of a group of citizens that left the Amarula hotel in a convoy that was ambushed by the terrorists,” Mr Saranga said.
“On March 24, a group of terrorists penetrated... the headquarters of Palma village and unleashed actions that culminated with the assassination of dozens of defenceless people,” he added.
Government-contracted helicopters were searching for more survivors on Sunday. Lionel Dyck, who runs a private security firm working with the government, said his helicopters had rescued some 120 people overall.
The exact number of people injured and killed in the four-day assault on Palma, or still unaccounted for, remains unclear.
The town has previously been a refuge for people fleeing violence elsewhere in the province.
