However, the president of the region that includes Nice said the truck was loaded with arms and grenades, and that the driver of the truck has now been killed by police.
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Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said that “a lorry driver appears to have killed dozens of people”.
Local legislator Eric Ciotti told France Info radio more probably had died.
“There was carnage on the road”, Bouhlel said.
Video of the attack circulating on social media shows a surreal scene, with fireworks continuing in the background as survivors run towards safety.
Bouhlel said he witnessed the man emerge with a gun and start shooting, but Toffin said she that, “to my knowledge” there was no gunfire. A few days later, January 7, a jihadist attacked a Paris police station and was shot dead in an incident that left one policeman with injuries.
Pictures from the scene showed the windshield of the large truck riddled with what appeared to be bullet holes.
French President Francois Hollande went to the interior ministry’s crisis center after hearing of the attack, according to Reuters.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of those killed”, he said.
Multiple deaths and injuries were reported in Nice, France Thursday as a truck plowed into the Bastille celebrations in a possible terror attack.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was also at the event, held under tight security because of terrorist attacks in Paris past year.
“A fraction of a second later, an enormous white truck came along at a insane speed, turning the wheel to mow down the maximum number of people”, he said. “Heard noises, cries that I will never forget”.
“People were screaming and running”.
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Kayla Repan, of Boca Raton, Florida, was among the hundreds gathered on the promenade to watch fireworks. She said she did not have casualty figures.
