Attack In Nice: 80 Dead As Truck Hits Crowd
Several children are among the dead after a lorry mowed down hundreds of revellers at a Bastille Day fireworks display. 05:25, UK,Friday 15 July 2016 (News.sky.com) Dozens of people have been killed in Nice, France, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day. At least 80 people have been killed and dozens injured …
Several children are among the dead after a lorry mowed down hundreds of revellers at a Bastille Day fireworks display.
05:25, UK,Friday 15 July 2016 (News.sky.com)
Dozens of people have been killed in Nice, France, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day. At least 80 people have been killed and dozens injured after a truck careered along the waterfront in the French city of Nice, ploughing into hundreds of people. French President Francois Hollande has said several children are among the dead after what he described as a monstrous “terrorist” act. Video footage shows police trying to stop the lorry before it picks up speed, slamming into revellers gathered along the city’s famous waterside Promenade des Anglais for a Bastille Day fireworks display.
The driver zig-zagged along the promenade for some two kilometres (1.3 miles), mowing people down along the way, according to Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre.
:: Crowds Run From Scene Of Attack In Nice: Video
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Bodies on a street after the deadly attack in Nice -
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- “The lorry ripped through everything. Poles, trees, we have never seen anything like it in our lives. Some people were hanging on the door trying to stop it.”
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Nice-Matin journalist Damien Allemand, who was at the waterside, said the fireworks display had finished and the crowd had got up to leave when they heard a noise and cries.
“A fraction of a second later, an enormous white truck came along at a crazy speed, turning the wheel to mow down the maximum number of people,” he said.
Graphic footage from the scene shows an endless succession of bodies left strewn along the city’s landmark promenade in the lorry’s wake.
Screams and cries can be heard as dazed victims and witnesses lean over the bodies, looking for survivors.
Items of clothing and shoes are scattered across the blood-stained pavement.
Identity papers of a French-Tunisian were also discovered, according to a police source quoted by news agency AFP. The papers indicate the man is a 31-year-old resident of Nice.
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“I express in the name of the nation, our tears, solidarity, with the victims and the families,” Mr Hollande said in a live television address.
He pledged to strengthen France’s role in Syria and Iraq and extended the nation’s state of emergency – imposed after November’s attacks in Paris – for a further three months.
Nice’s famous luxury Negresco hotel, meanwhile, has been turned into a makeshift ward, with dozens of frightened and injured victims gathered in the marble lobby.
The Hotel Negresco has been turned into a makeshift hospital Pic: @AlbanMikoczy
The hashtag #RecherchesNice has been started for people looking for loved ones.
:: Witness: Driver Zig-Zagged Through Crowd
Authorities in Nice told local residents to stay in their homes as they conducted further operations, though there has been no sign of any other threats.
The Foreign Office says it is in touch with local authorities in Nice and has advised anyone in the area to follow the instructions of French authorities.
