Truck rams the Bastille Day crowd killing and injuring scores
NICE, FRANCE – It looks like yet another terror attack has taken place in France. This time the site was the beautiful French city of Nice located in the south of the country. 30 people are dead and over 100 people were injured, with the driver was killed by police.
The truck rammed into a large crowd celebrating the Bastille Day(much like our 4th of July) national holiday on Thursday night, French TV channel BFM TV said.
The event took place on the Promenade des Anglais seaside walk in the center of town, regional newspaper Nice Matin reported, citing its own reporter at the scene.
Fireworks were filling the night sky as the drama unfolded, as the crowds enjoyed July 14th, which is always a Bank Holiday in France.
French television channel BFM TV said the local prefecture in Nice was treating the incident as an attack and was asking people to stay at home.
The Agence France-Presse (AFP) says its reporter described seeing a white van driving at high speed on to the Promenade des Anglais, which is by the beach in Nice, as people were leaving after the Bastille day celebration display.
“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around,” he said, adding that the incident took place near the Hotel Negresco. Terrified pedestrians screamed as they fled the area. “It was absolute chaos,” he said.
A security cordon was established, closing off the central Place Massena by 11:30pm GMT, another AFP correspondent said.
A spokesman for the Alpes Maritime prefecture advised locals to ‘stay indoors’ as gunfire was heard, and a lorry was driven into a crowd on the Promenade des Anglais, Peter Allen reports.
Bodies could be seen lying on the floor by the beach, as the police and other emergency services tried to deal with a mass panic.
“Police are flooding the streets, including anti-terrorism officers. Nobody knows what to do, except to hide away. Gunmen are meant to be targeting hotels.” According to France 24.
The area around the Promenade is full of hotels and restaurants, which that were all packed at the height of the summer holiday season.