Thousands of people have fled the town of Palma in northern Mozambique after an attack by Islamist insurgents on Wednesday, according to human rights groups, while the fate of dozens of people who had taken refuge in a local hotel remains unclear.

Efforts to dislodge the huge container ship stuck in the Suez Canal intensified Saturday as the backlog of ships at either end of the crucial waterway grew, heightening concerns over the impact of the blockage on global supply chains.