NICE, France–A truck ran into a crowd in Nice, France on Bastille Day, killing multiple people.
The prosecutor’s office in Nice says 80 were killed, including children and around 100 injured, 18 of whom are in critical condition. The officials said that the driver pointed his tractor-trailer into the crowd and accelerated, mowing bodies over for about a mile. The driver was shot to death, authorities said.
The prosecutor’s office in Paris has opened a terrorism investigation into the attack. While French President Francois Hollande did not out-right call the incident terrorism, in his speech he spoke about how terrorism cannot be tolerated, and about conducting further actions against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
“We cannot deny that it was a terror attack,” Hollande said in a national television address.
Authorities are attempting to determine whether the identity card of a 31-year-old French-Tunisian found in the truck cab matches the body of the driver in the attack, according to a police source cited by AFP. The driver was a Nice resident, according to the Nice Matin newspaper.
President Obama indicated terrorism could be a factor as well. “I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France,” he said in a statement.
The country’s state of emergency, which was set after the Paris attacks last November, was set to expire July 26, but will now be extended by three months, President Hollande said in a speech Thursday night. He also announced that the country’s operational reserve will be deployed to ensure borders are safe, and to give police officers a break if needed.
Initial reports indicate the truck driver acted alone, and contrary to original reports it does not appear there was any gunfire from the truck, according to the office.
Former Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi, who is currently the head of the regional council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azu, was continuing to update his Twitter account with updates through the night.
Estrosi told local media outlets that the truck was loaded with arms and grenades.
Video from the scene shows revelers running in panic in the French beach town, which is nearly 600 miles from Paris, after the truck drove into a group of people watching fireworks in celebration of the country’s national holiday, according to witnesses.
An eyewitness told the Associated Press he saw “bodies everywhere” after the truck hit the crowd.
The translation of the three tweets below are:
- @Nice_Matin: The images of the Anglais Promenade after #AttacksNice
- @Nice_Matin: The truck that drove into the crowd
Nice-Matin is a daily newspaper in the Alpes-Maritimes area of France, which covers Nice.
Stay with FOX 61 as this story develops.
