Dozens of people are reportedly dead after a large cargo truck plowed into a large group of Bastille Day celebrators watching a fireworks show in Nice, France late Thursday evening in what is believed to be an attack. The driver was reportedly shot dead.
According The Guardian, French officials have been quoted saying that “maybe 30" people are dead and hundreds are injured after a driver drove into a large crowd “over a long distance” with his truck, with the driver dying in an exchange of gunfire.
From The Guardian:
A reporter for the French news agency AFP described seeing a white vehicle driving at high speed on to the Promenade des Anglais as people were leaving after the annual Bastille Day celebration display.
“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around,” he said, adding that the incident took place near the Hotel Negresco.
Update: According to The Guardian’s live feed updates, the truck driver emerged from the truck and started shooting after driving through the crowd:
A witness has told the Associated Press that he saw the truck driver emerge from the vehicle with a gun and start shooting after ploughing into the crowd.
Wassim Bouhlel, a Nice native who spoke to the agency near the city’s Promenade du Paillon, said: “There was carnage on the road. Bodies everywhere.”
The Nice prosecutor’s office was quoted saying the reported number of fatalities is now up to 60 dead.
Update: A witness at the scene spoke to CNN about the attack, describing the truck swerving back and forth through the crowd, via The Guardian:
Tony Molina, a witness to the attack, has told CNN that he watched the chaos unfold from his hotel room on the promenade.
“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,” he said.
“People were screaming and running. There are still people I am looking at right now that are near their deceased family members.
The death toll continues to climb, with reports now up to over 70 people dead:
Update: A French lawmaker has reported that guns and explosives were discovered in the assailant’s truck:
Update:
We will update as we have more information.