Over 80 people including children were feared dead and another 50 hurt in Nice, France, Thursday night after a truck filled with grenades and weapons plowed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the resort town, according to French authorities.
The driver of the rampaging truck, who mowed them down on the sidewalk was shot to death by the police as officers scrambled to respond on what is France’s most important annual holiday.
The driver first shot a gun into the crowd before driving two kilometers along the Promenade des Anglais, the main street in Nice, mowing down people who had gathered to watch fireworks, regional President Christian Estrosi told CNN affiliate BFM-TV.
Police found firearms, explosives and grenades in the truck, Estrosi said.
“The horror, the horror has, once again, hit France,” President François Hollande said in a nationally televised address early Friday. He said the “terrorist character” of the assault was undeniable, and he described the use of a large truck to deli very to
“France has been struck on the day of her national holiday,” he said. “Human rights are denied by fanatics, and France is clearly their target.”
Mr. Hollande, who only hours earlier had proclaimed the impending end of a state of national emergency on July 26, said that the measure would be extended by three months and that additional soldiers would be deployed for security.
French officials quickly concluded that terrorism was the likely motive, as the scope of the slaughter grew clear. The use of a large commercial truck as the principal weapon of death raised new questions about how to prevent such attacks.
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