Dozens Killed in Truck Attack in Nice, France on Bastille Day

NICE, France- A truck ploughed into a crowd in the French resort of Nice, leaving at least 70 dead and scores injured in an “attack” after a Bastille Day fireworks display, prosecutors said. The death toll may rise as many injured people are in critical condition.

According to AFP, the French government said the driver of the truck was shot dead after barreling down the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais, sending hundreds of terrified people fleeing and leaving the seaside path strewn with fallen bodies.

 “An individual drove a truck into the crowd. He was killed by police,” said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet.

A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres.

Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at high speed onto the seaside road, described scenes of “absolute chaos”.

“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris,” he said.

Hours after the attack, dozens of bodies lay on the ground covered in white sheets.

Local government official Sebastien Humbert said scores more people were injured in what he called “a major criminal attack”.

While the incident has not been claimed by any group, prosecutors said the probe would be handled by anti-terrorist investigators.

“Investigations are currently under way to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled,” the interior ministry spokesman said, but he denied reports that a hostage-taking incident had taken place.

Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre said at least 70 people were killed after the truck drove two kilometres (1.3 miles) through the crowd.

The bloodshed comes eight months after an ISIS terrorist attacks on Paris nightspots left 130 people dead, which already struck a blow to tourism in one of the world’s top destinations.

ISIS has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target, and the country has been under a state of emergency ever since the November 13 Paris attacks.

In light of the attack, French President Francois Hollande has returned to Paris from Avignon to take part in a crisis center meeting. On Friday, he will attend a security meeting of his closed cabinet.

Source: AFP

H.M