On Sunday, France had breathed a sigh of relief as the month-long Euro 2016 soccer tournament ended without a feared attack.
Advertisement
France has declared three days of national mourning following the atrocity, which comes after attacks in November in Paris in which 130 died and in January 2015 that killed 17.
A vigil was also taking place at Nice Cathedral on Friday night.
USA government agencies have received constant reports of Islamic State threats to attack France and those threats are regarded as current, a US security official said. “I won’t forget the look of this policewoman who intercepted the killer”.
“France is in tears”.
French leaders have extended the country’s eight-month-old state of emergency and vowed to deploy thousands of police reservists on the streets after a Tunisian man drove a truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people and wounding 202 others.
Chief prosecutor Francois Molins said police risked their own lives trying to stop the truck as it travelled two kilometres down the promenade. “We at the LA County Sheriff’s Department send compassion and prayers to those families who lost loved ones today”. “I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route”.
“A woman dropped to her knees, someone in her family had been killed, just lying there”.
“I stayed on top of the stairs looking around. Heard noises, screams that I will never forget”.
He later told Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly that if he was elected president, he would ask Congress for a declaration of war on Islamic State militants who have been inspiring and planning attacks in France and Belgium.
“I didn’t think terrorism”.
The governments of many nations, for example Russian Federation, the United States, the UK, Mexico, Germany and Morocco offered their prayers and support for the people of France. “He would’ve used his brakes but there was no screech”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose settlement policies on Palestinian land have been criticized by France and other foreign countries, said Israel stood ready “to help the French government fight this evil until it is defeated”.
“On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world”, said US President Barack Obama, before ordering flags in the capital Washington to be flown at half mast.
For more on the truck attack during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France, CCTV America’s Elaine Reyes spoke to Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“We are heartbroken and in shock over the loss of Brodie Copeland, an fantastic son and brother who lit up our lives, and Sean Copeland, a wonderful husband and father”, the Copeland family said in a statement.
“British Embassy staff are on the ground in Nice and in close touch with French authorities”.
Police forces in Britain will review security at major events scheduled to take place over the next week in the wake of the attack.
Fabienne Boulanger is heading to France next week with her kids.
Advertisement
Presumptive US Republican nominee Donald Trump also tried to make a political point in reacting to the carnage, tweeting: “Another horrific attack, this time in Nice, France”.
