More than 200 South Africans have been stranded in Mozambique by the outbreak of violent protests in the capital, Maputo, in which at least six people were killed yesterday.

Though there have been no reports of South Africans being injured, the government has closed its embassy offices in the country.

Department of International Relations spokesman Saul Molobi said last night that the situation in Mozambique was being closely monitored: "All South Africans are safe and we have not received any reports of injuries of fatalities."

SA Airways spokesman Fani Zulu said last night that more than 400 SAA passengers (about 200 waiting for flights in South Africa and 200 waiting in Mozambique) had been stranded because all four flights to and from Mozambique had been cancelled. He said this was due to safety concerns and because airports were not functioning.

"There was no air traffic control . it was completely unsafe for us to operate," said Zulu.

Zulu said the airline would assess the situation throughout the night and have an Airbus on standby to carry passengers today if it were safe to do so.

Some SAA staff in Mozambique could not get to work yesterday.

"Our staff have also been affected. Our decisions are informed by intelligence on the ground."

Six people, including two children, were reportedly killed in clashes between the police and rioters across Maputo.

The rioters are protesting about steeply rising food prices.

Police used tear gas to disperse protesters, who burned tyres to block roads.

The police allegedly fired sharp-point ammunition at the protesters after running out of rubber bullets.

Police said the violence, which was sparked after bread prices rocketed by 30%, were the worst in the country since 2008.