The streets of Promenade Des Anglais were filled for Bastille Day celebrations in Nice. The French national holiday is a time for parades and fireworks, drawing families and tourists. As fireworks were ending, a truck veered into the crowd, crushing everyone in it’s path.
The truck ran and crushed people for an estimated distance of 2 KM before the driver of the truck was shot dead by police. He and another gunman are believed to have exchanged gunshots with police. Reports have been made that a manhunt ensues for the second gunman.
Conflicting reports have sited anywhere from dozens, to at least 74 dead, with an estimated 100 wounded. People have been asked to stay indoors.
A nearby restaurant manager said:
“'[The truck] crushed everyone in its path.’ Then two men got out of the truck ‘and started shooting into the crowd, about 50 shots.'”
France has been under a state of emergency since the Paris terror attacks that left 130 dead and over 360 wounded in November.
At this point, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but as reported by the Washington Times:
“There was no immediate claim of responsibility but according to the Twitter account of the terrorism-news portal TRACTerrorism.org, Islamic State affiliated Telegram accounts were posting images from Nice.”
Nice death toll rises to at least 60 as lorry hits crowd; driver killed in police shootout https://t.co/b4INcf5n9V pic.twitter.com/SUavXpnmAh
— Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) July 14, 2016
UPDATE: At least 60 dead as truck drives into crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France https://t.co/PJAafnL4aK pic.twitter.com/qM1KIJPSXO
— Mashable (@mashable) July 14, 2016
Featured image screengrab via YouTube
