DOZENS of people are dead following an attack on the town of Palma in northern Mozambique, according to a spokesperson from the country’s defense department.

Seven were killed trying to escape a siege on a hotel, said Omar Saranga.

Hundreds of others, both locals and foreigners, were reportedly rescued.

The area has been under attack by Islamist militants since Wednesday. Witnesses have described hiding out while waiting to be rescued by boat, on a beach strewn with headless bodies.

Palma is near a major gas project run by the French energy giant Total, and more than 100 workers and civilians took refuge in the town’s Amarula Palma hotel.

Marine traffic websites showed a string of vessels around the town, and the port of Pemba to the south, as people tried to escape by any means — cargo vessels, passenger ships, tugs and recreational boats.

One contractor said many who escaped the hotel via convoy hid at the beach overnight Friday and were evacuated by boat Saturday morning. South African Adrian Nel was killed trying to escape, his mother Meryl Knox said. Her husband, Gregory, managed to make it out of Palma — though she said that he had to carry the body of their dead son until he was rescued. Her other son was also able to escape.

One source close to the rescue operation said that a boat with about 1,400 people on board had arrived in the port town of Pemba, which is about 250 km south of Palma, on Sunday afternoon.

The exact number of casualties in Palma, a town of about 75,000 people in Cabo Delgado province, is unclear. Many are still unaccounted for.

The armed group is reported to have taken control of Palma, but those claims are hard to verify amid a communications blackout. (SD-Agencies)