At least 84 people have been killed and more than 50 injured after a 25-tonne lorry mowed down crowds for more than a mile before the driver got out and sprayed fleeing revellers with bullets as terror struck Bastille Day celebrations on the French Riviera.
One eyewitness described seeing ‘bodies flying like bowling pins’ and ‘hearing noises, cries that I will never forget’ as the horror unfolded on a busy promenade in the southern city of Nice at around 10.30pm local time last night.
Identity documents belonging to a 31-year-old French Tunisian were later found in the bullet-riddled truck after the gunman at the wheel was shot dead by police marksmen, security sources said.
The gunman is believed to be from Nice and was known to police for crimes of theft and violence, but not intelligence services, a police source said. A suspected accomplice is on the run.
The truck driver was said to have shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ – God is greatest – before being killed. Pro-ISIS groups have been celebrating the attack, orchestrated to coincide with France’s most important national holiday.
A huge cache of guns, grenades and ‘larger weapons’ were later found inside the lorry, which mounted the pavement at approximately 40mph and steered directly towards hundreds of people watching a fireworks display.
Around 100 revellers are then said to have dived into the sea as panic ensued and holiday crowds desperately ran for their lives.
The gunman then jumped out of the truck and opened fire, which is when he was shot dead by police.
Anti-terror police swooped in as the city was put on lockdown and residents were warned to stay indoors for their safety.
Addressing the nation, French President Francois Hollande said several children were among the dead, with at least 80 victims confirmed so far and a further 20 people gravely wounded. He added that it was ‘undeniable’ the massacre was a terrorist attack.
Eyewitnesses say there was an exchange of gunfire in the aftermath of the incident before the driver was shot dead. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to unconfirmed reports in the French media.
Anti-terror police swooped in as the city was put on lockdown and residents were warned to stay indoors for their safety. Gunshots rang out in the streets, with the gunman targeting hotels and cafes in the port city in the south of France.
One witness called Antoine said: ‘We were at the Neptune beach and a firework display had just finished. That is when we saw a white lorry. It was going quickly at 60-70 kilometres an hour.’
Eyewitness Wassim Bouhlel said that he saw a truck drive into the crowd and then witnessed the man emerge with a gun and start shooting.
‘There was carnage on the road,’ Bouhlel said. ‘Bodies everywhere.’
Anti terrorist police have taken over the investigation into the attack according to the French interior ministry.
France’s ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, said last night that the world’s democratic states are under attack in a Bastille Day reception in Washington.
‘Our democracies – France, the United States, our other partners , we are besieged, we face a terrible threat.’
The country is already in a state of emergency after 130 people were killed in a terror attack in Paris in November. After last night’s attack it was extended for another three months.
French Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: ‘We are in a war with terrorists who want to strike us at any price and in a very violent way.’
Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet gave an update on the rapidly developing situation. He said: ‘There is no hostage-taking. An individual drove a truck into the crowd. He was killed by police.
‘Investigations are currently under way to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled.’
Local politician Eric Ciotti said: ‘It’s a scene of horror.’ He confirmed the truck mowed down ‘several hundred people’.
He said the truck drove for more than a mile hitting people along the promenade and confirmed the driver was killed by police ‘apparently after an exchange of gunfire’.
The truck was riddled with at least 40 bullet holes. The front of the vehicle was badly damaged while the front tyres had been shot out.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for ‘murder, attempted murder in an organised group linked to a terrorist enterprise’.
The probe is being handled by France’s intelligence agency and judicial police.
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.
Eyewitnesses said there were ‘bodies everywhere’.
Sebastian Humbert, prefect for the Alpes – Martime area said: ‘A truck rammed into the crowd over a long distance, which explains this extremely heavy toll.’
Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Prette said bodies were strewn about along the road.
The Gendarmerie Nationale tweeted: ‘Emergency operation in progress. Keep calm and avoid downtown area. Follow the official accounts to be informed.’
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.
British holidaymaker Esther Serwah, 59, was staying in a hotel a short walk from the scene.
She said she had been on her way to the Promenade des Anglais for dinner with her daughters when people started screaming at her.
Mrs Serwah, from Surrey, said: ‘I was just walking to the Promenade and then I saw everybody running and I just didn’t know what was going on.
‘People were screaming at me in French but I didn’t understand.
‘Some people were lying on the streets dead and people were running over the bodies.
‘Everybody was saying it’s a terrorist attack. It’s just horrible, horrible, horrible.
‘I’m in shock. I’m still shaking.’
European Council president Donald Tusk said Europe stands united with the French people in the battle against violence and hatred, while Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders both described the attack as ‘barbaric’.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is being kept up to date on the ‘terrible incident’ in Nice, a Downing Street spokesman said Friday.
‘Our thoughts are with all those affected by this terrible incident on what was a day of national celebration,’ the spokesman said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are deeply concerned about reports of an incident in Nice and are in touch with the local authorities to seek more information.
‘Our thoughts are with those affected and we stand by to help any British nationals.’
US President Barack Obama has condemned what appears to be ‘a horrific terrorist attack’ and has directed his officials to provide any assistance required by the French government.
He said: ‘On behalf of the American people, I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians.
‘We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack.
‘We know that the character of the French Republic will endure long after this devastating and tragic loss of life.
‘On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world.’
His Secretary of State John Kerry added: ‘The horrendous attack in Nice is an attack against innocent people on a day that celebrates Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.
‘On behalf of all Americans, and especially the great many with close ties to France, I offer our deepest condolences to the friends and family of those who were killed and our hopes for a speedy recovery to those who were injured.
‘I was proud to stand alongside French leaders earlier today at Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, and the United States will continue to stand firmly with the French people during this time of tragedy. We will provide whatever support is needed.
‘Our embassy in Paris is making every effort to account for the welfare of U.S. citizens in Nice. Any U.S. citizens in Nice should contact friends and family directly to inform them of their well being.’
According to the White House: ‘The president has been apprised of the situation in Nice, France, and his national security team will update him, as appropriate.’
French President Francois Hollande is heading to the Interior Ministry’s crisis centre.
Police shot and killed the driver, who drove at high speed for over 100 yards along the famed Promenade des Anglais seafront before hitting the mass of spectators, regional sub-prefect Sebastien Humbert told France Info radio.
Humbert described it as a clear criminal attack, although the driver was not yet identified. Residents of the Mediterranean city close to the Italian border were advised to stay indoors. There was no sign of any other attack.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy tweeted: ‘Deep emotion and infinite sadness at the Nice attack. Solidarity with the Nicois and the inhabitants of the Alpes-Maritimes.’
Fireworks were filling the night sky as the drama unfolded, as the crowds enjoyed July 14th, which is always a Bank Holiday in France.
‘It is absolute chaos,’ said an eye witness who works in the Nice judiciary. ‘There are reports of dozens of people killed, and many more injured. Bodies are lying everywhere.
‘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.’
The lorry was seen mounting the pavement and piling into anyone the driver could see, ramming over those who tried to run away.
Regional newspaper Nice Matin quoted its own reporter at the scene saying there were many injured people and blood on the street. It published a photograph of a damaged, long-distance delivery truck, which it said was ‘riddled with bullets’ and images of emergency services treating the injured.
Damien Allemand, the paper’s correspondent, was quoted as saying: ‘People are running. It’s panic. He rode up onto the Prom and piled into the crowd … There are people covered in blood. There must be many injured.’
He said the attack began just as the fireworks display ended as thousands of people were milling around the waterside.
He added: ‘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. I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget.’
Bastille Day, which celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris during the French Revolution of 1789, is the country’s biggest public holiday.
Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said: ‘This is the worst Nice drama of history. We are terrified and we want to present to all the families our sincere condolences.’
He said flags in the city would be flown at half-mast, while a concert by US superstar Rhianna and the popular jazz festival have both been cancelled.
Horrific images depicting men and women lying on the side of a road close to the Promenade des Anglais appeared on social media.
Fireworks were filling the night sky as the drama unfolded, as the crowds enjoyed July 14th, which is always a Bank Holiday in France.
France has been repeatedly targeted in recent months.
Colin Srivastava told BBC News: ‘We were basically sitting just in front of the Old Town in Nice and saw several hundred people running towards us looking panic stricken.
‘We tried to ask a few of them what the hell was going on and finally got one that said, ‘You need to go, the police have told us to run’.
‘Just around about the base of the hill where the castle is in Nice the police came running along and said, ‘Run now’.
‘We had absolutely no idea what was going on, to be honest with you.
‘When we got down into the port in Nice we were told by a few people who’d obviously run faster than we had that there was the story of a lorry that had gone into the people, basically cannoned into the crowd, and there were also shots fired, which is something we didn’t hear about until just now on French news.’
Meanwhile, in Paris, a fire broke out near the Eiffel Tower, however authorities said this incident was not suspicious.
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