Islamist militants have ambushed a convoy that was trying to rescue civilians from a hotel amid fighting in northern Mozambique, reports say. A South African man has been confirmed as dead, but many details are unclear. Hundreds of people fled the fighting, which began on Wednesday in the town of Palma. Evacuees included foreign gas workers. French energy giant Total said it was forced to suspend operations at a huge gas project nearby. The company had only just announced it would restart work on the $20bn (£14.5bn) project which it had halted in January over security concerns. In a statement, the company said none of its staff were killed in the incident, but the "remobilisation of the project that was envisaged at the beginning of the week" had been halted. Total added that it trusted the Mozambican security forces, who were working to regain control of the area. Human Rights Watch said that witnesses described seeing "bodies on the streets and residents fleeing after the... fighters fired indiscriminately at people and buildings". Northern Mozambique has been torn apart by an insurgency since 2017. Militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group are behind the conflict in the predominantly Muslim region of Cabo Delgado. The fighting has left more than 2,500 people dead and 700,000 displaced.