French prosecutors said on Saturday, May 4, they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 jihadist attack in Mozambique.
The probe follows a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors, accusing the French energy company, which was developing a major gas liquefied gas project in the region, of failing to protect its subcontractors, the prosecutors' office told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Contacted by AFP Saturday, a TotalEnergies spokesperson reiterated a previous statement saying it "firmly rejects the accusations." He said its Mozambique teams had supplied urgent aid and made the evacuation of 2,500 people from the plant possible, including civilians, staff, contractors and sub-contractors.
The survivors and families say TotalEnergies also failed to provide fuel so that helicopters could evacuate civilians after Islamic State-linked militants killed dozens of people in the Mozambican port town of Palma on March 24, 2021.
The entire attack in Cabo Delgado province lasted several days, claiming several hundred lives. Some of the victims were beheaded and thousands fled their homes.