Nice, France: Bomb-laden truck plows into Bastille crowd, 73 dead hundreds injured
(RNN) - Seventy-three people are dead and well over 100 are injured after a semi-truck loaded with explosives intentionally plowed into a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France. Witnesses said the driver accelerated through the crowd at high speed as police fired at him, leaving no doubt the attack was intentional.
The truck was loaded with bombs, arms and explosives, said Christian Estrosi, the president of the region in a tweet. The truck did not explode, which would have magnified the carnage..
The driver was shot dead by police, and authorities are investigating whether he acted alone. The truck still sits where it stopped rolling, riddled with bullet holes in the windshield.
No terror links have been confirmed, though the attack bears many of the hallmarks. One French official described the event as a "major criminal attack."
The attack happened about 11 p.m. local time on the Promenade de Anglais, a wide, open public square near the ocean in the picturesque coastal city
Bastille Day is similar to the Fourth of July in the U.S. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille, a prison in the center of Paris. The attack happened after a fireworks display.
Images and video posted on social media show hundreds running in panic and many others lying in the street, severely injured.
"Bodies are everywhere," a witness told AP.
About two hours after the attackm firefighters, ambulances and other rescuers were still frantically working on the injured, who remain scattered along a 200-meter swath of the street where the truck plowed through. They are being taken to nearby hospitals and taxi drivers have been helping evacuate by giving people free rides home.
The attack happened the same day that French President Francois Hollande announced he would on July 26 lift a state of emergency that had been in place since January.
During his news conference, Hollande said there is still a threat to France, but he could not "prolong the state of emergency eternally."
(RNN) - Seventy-three people are dead and well over 100 are injured after a semi-truck loaded with explosives intentionally plowed into a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France. Witnesses said the driver accelerated through the crowd at high speed as police fired at him, leaving no doubt the attack was intentional.
The truck was loaded with bombs, arms and explosives, said Christian Estrosi, the president of the region in a tweet. The truck did not explode, which would have magnified the carnage..
The driver was shot dead by police, and authorities are investigating whether he acted alone. The truck still sits where it stopped rolling, riddled with bullet holes in the windshield.
No terror links have been confirmed, though the attack bears many of the hallmarks. One French official described the event as a "major criminal attack."
The attack happened about 11 p.m. local time on the Promenade de Anglais, a wide, open public square near the ocean in the picturesque coastal city
Bastille Day is similar to the Fourth of July in the U.S. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille, a prison in the center of Paris. The attack happened after a fireworks display.
Images and video posted on social media show hundreds running in panic and many others lying in the street, severely injured.
"Bodies are everywhere," a witness told AP.
About two hours after the attackm firefighters, ambulances and other rescuers were still frantically working on the injured, who remain scattered along a 200-meter swath of the street where the truck plowed through. They are being taken to nearby hospitals and taxi drivers have been helping evacuate by giving people free rides home.
The attack happened the same day that French President Francois Hollande announced he would on July 26 lift a state of emergency that had been in place since January.
During his news conference, Hollande said there is still a threat to France, but he could not "prolong the state of emergency eternally."
