TRUCK PLOWS INTO CROWD, KILLING SCORES IN FRANCE
BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION TURNS TO NIGHTMARE
Eighty people were killed 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.
Eighteen people were hurt critically, the Associated Press reported. The French Interior Ministry issued a statement on Twitter saying the driver of the truck was dead.
Authorities stopped short of calling it a terrorist act, but the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it was opening an investigation for “murder, attempted murder in an organized group linked to a terrorist enterprise.”
French President Francoise Hollande addressed the nation on Friday, saying “horror has struck France again,” an apparent reference to terror attacks in January 2015 and in November that, together, left almost 150 people dead. He said the attack was of a “terrorist character” and extended the state of emergency put in place after the November attacks.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi told BFM TV that the driver fired at the crowd, according to police. Estrosi told the news organization the truck was driven by someone who appeared to engage in “completely premeditated behavior.”
Word of the situation trickled out to the world after Estrosi sent a tweet around 5:30 p.m. ET that translated to “Dear Nice, the driver of a truck seems to have left dozens dead.”
“This is the worst drama in the history of Nice,” Estrosi tweeted.
President Obama was apprised of the situation, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said Thursday. The president spoke harsh words regarding the developing situation.
“On behalf of the American people, I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians,” the president said in a statement released Thursday night. “I have directed my team to be in touch with French officials, and we have offered any assistance that they may need.
Witnesses described a horrific scene. “Thank God we decided not to take the young ones” to see the Bastille Day fireworks, Yves Lamorelle said.