Officials have stated the attack was deliberate but have not yet said whether it is a terrorist attack or whether it is linked to ISIS or other foreign terrorist organizations.
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The driver was shot by the police and is dead.Identification belonging to a 31-year-old French Tunisian resident of Nice was found inside the truck, a police source told Agence-France Presse.
The witness said the driver accelerated as he was mowing people down.
According to reports, Thursday evening (July 14) someone driving a large truck accelerated and plowed through a crowd as many were celebrating Bastille Day.
The politician, who was at the celebration when the carnage happened, said: “This is the worst Nice drama of history”.
The Mediterranean city of Nice, with its pebble beaches and clear blue water, has been a magnet for sun-seekers and the jetset since the 19th century. “The driver of a truck appears to have killed dozens of people”.
Prosecutors said the probe would be handled by anti-terrorist investigators.
Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Prette said bodies were strewn about along the road.
Hundreds were reported fleeing the scene after the vehicle careered into people who had gathered to celebrate the country’s official independence day.
French President Francois Hollande announced he will convene an emergency government summit Friday at 9 a.m. local time, following a crisis meeting held shortly after the attack.
Police said people in the vicinity should stay home and follow instructions from authorities.
The incident left an “apocalyptic” scene, according to eyewitnesses, on the famed Promenade des Anglais, put the city on lockdown and drew swift condemnation from world leaders. He urged Americans visiting Nice to contact friends and family directly. She said she did not have casualty figures.
The French interior ministry said that, despite reports, there was no hostage situation. “We ran into a hotel and hid in the toilets with lots of people”.
German described fellow Bastille Day revellers coming to help, bringing water and towels to those injured.
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One image on Twitter shows dozens of people lying injured on the floor with another showing a white lorry stopped in the middle of the street with four police officers observing it from a nearby palm tree. “I didn’t know what was going on”, she said.
