Galaxy

15 Jul 2016

France terror attack: 84 killed when truck ploughs into crowd celebrating on Bastille Day

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At least 84 people were killed in a suspected terror attack on France as the country celebrated Bastille Day.
A lorry loaded with weapons and hand grenades drove on to a pavement in Nice more than a mile before police shot dead the driver.
The killer was a 31-year-old French citizen born in Tunisia. He was said to be known to police but not on a terror watch list.
A massive stash of weapons and hand grenades was found inside the lorry that mowed down crowds in Nice last night, killing at least 84 people.
A pistol, several grenades and larger guns were among the items uncovered from the 25-tonne vehicle after the horror attack , French officials say.
Reports claim some of these weapons were fake, although this is unconfirmed.

The Terrorist

Little is known about the terrorist who killed at least 84 people - including several children - by driving a lorry through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in France.
The truck ploughed into crowds on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais and continued at speed for around a mile.
The driver was seen shooting from the window of the truck as he smashed into people.
The killer was eventually shot dead by police with pictures showing his truck riddled with bullet holes.
This was the scene this morning as a man walked through debris scattered on the streets on Nice, where a lorry ploughed into crowds of families just hours earlier.
As the killer lorry zig-zagged through the streets, terrified bystanders ran for cover in whichever direction possible.
This picture shows two women huddling together in the storeroom of a nearby restaurant.
Journalist Ben Terry tweeted footage as eyewitnesses waited for news.
Celia Delcourt, 20, from Nice, was enjoying the Bastille Day celebrations with friends when the attack happened.
“When the fireworks ended, we went on to the Promenade des Anglais and we started walking and we heard gunshots and we started running from on the other side,” she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“It was dark. We didn’t know what was happening. We thought it was fireworks from another place. We just started running because everybody was running, without knowing what was happening.
“We never thought it will happen in our city, it’s crazy. It feels like it’s a part of our day since it happened in Paris but we never thought it would happen here.”
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.”
Witnesses of the attack in Nice described seeing people run through the streets as they heard gunshots.
Wassim Bouhel told the French TV channel iTele that the lorry zigzagged across the road.
He said: “We almost died. It was like hallucinating ... (the lorry) zigzagged - you had no idea where it was going. My wife ... a metre away ... she was dead. “The lorry ripped through everything ... poles, trees.
“We have never seen anything like it. Some people were hanging on the door and tried to stop it.”
Tony Molina, an American witness to the attack, told CNN: “There was still a crowd of people and then you just see this big white panel truck, I couldn’t see the driver, but it just kept going at different angles from left to right at 25 to 30 miles and hour.
“People were screaming and running. I work in homicide and I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unbelievable.”
Brit Will Shore told BBC Radio 4: “It was quite chaotic really. There was a lot of people screaming, running around and people were kind of being pushed over, I think, from people just being so frightened about what was going on especially after hearing the gunshots.
“I had to help a couple of people up who were in distress on the floor because everyone was in such a panic.”

84 Dead

The number of those killed in Thursday’s terror attack in Nice has risen to 84.
Revised figures from the Interior Ministry suggest 84 people dead and 18 in critical condition.

The Attacker's Identity

The man who drove a lorry into crowds of people during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice was known to police, it has emerged.
80 people were killed and dozens injured in what President Francois Hollande has called a terror attack.
Today, it was revealed that the man - a local Nice man of Tunisian origin, was known to police for common law crimes.
But, authorities said, NOT to intelligence services.
At least 80 people died in the carnage and many more were injured in what President Francois Hollande said was clearly a terrorist attack, with several children among the dead.
Laurence Marie, who works at Lenval paediatric hospital, said “many” more children were undergoing serious operations there.
Footage has emerged showing the moment police tried to stop the lorry as it ploughed into crowds in Nice.
80 people died and 18 were in a critical condition following the attack on France’s national holiday, Bastille Day.
Many more were also wounded in the attack along the famed seafront Promenade des Anglais as the fireworks ended just after 10.30pm local time. The driver also opened fire before police shot him dead.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said authorities are working to identify the terrorist - and determine whether or not he had help.
He told reporters: “I’d like to say a word about the investigation, not to reveal any details but to say that we are fighting this with all the means the state has to identify the suspect. The identification process is ongoing.
“We will firstly determine if he had help from accomplices or not. And this information is to be shared by the public prosecutor according to what will be verified for sure, to prevent rumours or false information to be carried out.
“Lastly I’d like to say that we knew that the level of a terrorist threat was extremely high, we’ve been saying this for the past days, for the past weeks since we were under a great amount of pressure because of Euro 2016 which is a huge event.
“It was hardly over that I recall myself, telling my staff at Place Beauvau (Interior Ministry) that the vigilance level had to remain absolute, because we are at war with terrorists who want to hurt us at any costs, and as brutally as they can.”
Rescue workers at the scene last night.
Nearby hotels were turned into makeshift hospitals to treat the injured.

United Nations condemns "barbaric and cowardly" attack

The UN Security Council has “condemned in the strongest terms the barbaric terrorist and cowardly attack”.
In a statement, the 15 members of the Council offered their “deep sympathy and condolences” to the families of the victims and to the French government.

One woman told France Info that she and others had fled in terror: “The lorry came zig-zagging along the street.
“We ran into a hotel and hid in the toilets with lots of people.”

Celebrities pay tribute to victims of Nice attack

Kris Jenner, Simon Cowell and Justin Timberlake were among the first stars to pay tribute to those killed or left injured in a terrorist attack in the French city of Nice.
On Thursday night, 80 people were killed after a lorry ploughed through a crowd over for over 2km as they celebrated Bastille Day.
As the shocking news and horrifying footage emerged of the terror attack, the 56-year-old tweeted: “Just heard the terrible news from Nice. I am shocked. My thoughts and prayers to all affected.”


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