Police have praised a heroic member of the public for jumping into a truck and wrestling with its murderous driver as it tore through throngs of men, woman and children celebrating Bastille Day in Nice.
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Thursday’s slaughter was the third major terrorist attack in France since past year.
CRI’s Victor Ning has more.
“Their actions have resulted in the loss of many lives of people of different nationalities”.
“This evening is the time for emotion and it was quite an overwhelming moment”.
“They heard it all and people were running at them, running every direction up that side street to get to the next block just to get away”, she said. “There comes a time when words don’t mean anything anymore and what counts are the facts”.
When asked why the terrorists had chosen France as a target of their attacks, Alexei Filatov brought up the millions of migrants from North Africa who now live in France but have never become part of French society.
While he had several run-ins with the law previously, Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not on a watch list of French intelligence services as a suspected militant. Dramatic video footage showed police surrounding the heavily damaged truck and firing through the windscreen to kill the attacker.
As the day went on, details began to emerge about the attacker, though authorities were still investigating whether he acted alone. No group claimed responsibility, although it was celebrated online by Islamic State supporters.
In a speech outlining how France would move forward in the wake of the attacks, President Francois Hollande expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and said that France must remain strong “because we have to set an example of cohesion and unity for the world”.
Attending this weekend’s Asia-Europe meeting in Mongolia, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has condemned the attack, saying the Chinese government and people stand with France.
Tunisian President Beji Essebsi has described the attack as a “vile act”.
The father also insisted that his son “had no links to religion”.
Obama said he had spoken with French President Francois Hollande earlier and told him the USA pledged its support to help defeat extremist ideologies and that America would “stand with our French friends”.
“We will not be deterred”, Obama said.
He said the toll from the attack could rise.
On January 7, 2015, two Islamist gunmen stormed the headquarters of the controversial satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing twelve people and injuring twelve before escaping.
“The perpetrators who commit such attacks in the name of Islam are criminals who follow a sickening perverted ideology that is the farthest from the noble teaching of Islam and the basic norms of humanity”, the Windsor Islamic Council said in a statement released Friday.
Gorovtsov added that after the tragic events in Nice, the French would keep tabs on foreigners coming to the country, even from the Schengen area.
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“Attack or no attack, this is the message that Christ gave us: a message of love and brotherhood, with our brothers, and not to fall back on hatred in spite of what’s happened”.
