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Scores Die in Nice, France, as Truck Plows Into Bastille Day Crowd Death Toll From Terrorist Attack in Nice, France, Rises to 84
(about 3 hours later)
PARIS — A Bastille Day fireworks celebration was shattered by death and mayhem Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice when a large truck barreled for more than a mile through an enormous crowd of spectators, crushing and maiming dozens in what France’s president called a terrorist assault. It came eight months after the Paris attacks that traumatized the nation and all of Europe. PARIS — The death toll from the terrorist attack on a Bastille Day fireworks celebration in the southern French city of Nice rose to 84 on Friday morning, as the government raced to establish the attacker’s identity, extended a national state of emergency and absorbed the shock of a third major terrorist attack in 19 months.
Officials and witnesses in Nice said at least 84 people, including children, were killed by the driver of the rampaging truck, who mowed them down on the sidewalk. He was shot to death by the police as officers scrambled to respond on what is France’s most important annual holiday. “We will not give in to the terrorist threat,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday morning after a cabinet meeting led by President François Hollande. “The times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism.”
Graphic television and video images showed the truck accelerating and tearing through the crowd, dozens of victims sprawled in its path, and the bullet-riddled windshield of the vehicle. Municipal officials and police officers described the truck as full of weapons and grenades. The attack unfolded on Thursday around 10:30 p.m., when a large truck turned left onto the Promenade des Anglais, a seaside boulevard filled with an enormous crowd of spectators.
“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 deliberately kill people as “a monstrosity.” The truck initially killed two people, and continued for another 1.1 miles down the boulevard, brutally mowing down people left and right until police officers shot and killed the driver outside a hotel and casino.
The 84 dead included two Americans and one Russian, officials said. Scores of wounded, including at least 18 with critical injuries, were hospitalized. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Mr. Hollande, who had said on Thursday that a state of emergency put in place after the Nov. 13 attacks in and around Paris would end soon, found himself dealing with another calamity. The government will now seek to extend the state of emergency for three months.
Nice-Matin, the city’s main newspaper, reported on Friday that the police had identified a 31-year-old man who was born in Tunisia and lived in the Nice area as the attacker. The police conducted several raids in Nice on Friday morning as they tried to confirm the man’s identity.
As Mr. Hollande and Mr. Valls arrived in Nice to join the interior and health ministers and other officials, the country announced a three-day state of mourning, starting on Saturday.
World leaders — from Pope Francis and President Obama to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Britain’s new prime minister, Theresa May — expressed sympathy and outrage.
It was a sadly familiar ritual for France, where a total of 147 people were killed in terrorist attacks in and around Paris in January and November of last year, and it raised new questions throughout the Western world about the ability of extremists to sow terror.
The internet reverberated with calls for prayer for victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels; Istanbul; Orlando, Fla.; Baghdad; and other cities struck by mass terrorism attacks attributed to Islamist extremists this year.
Only hours before the attack, Mr. Hollande had confirmed that a nationwide state of emergency put in place after the November attacks would end on July 26; the government will now move to extend that state of emergency, which confers extraordinary powers on police and prosecutors, for three months, and deploy additional soldiers to protect the nation.
“The horror, the horror has, once again, hit France,” Mr. Hollande told the nation early Friday. He said the “terrorist character” of the assault was undeniable, and he described the use of a large truck to deliberately kill people as “a monstrosity.”
“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.”“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. The use of a large commercial truck as the principal weapon of death raised new questions about how to prevent such attacks.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday morning that France would observe three days of national mourning, starting on Saturday. Flags will fly at half-staff at all government buildings. The officials warned residents to stay indoors and canceled festivities in Nice, a seaside city of 340,000, including a five-day jazz festival and a concert on Friday night by Rihanna.
“We would like to tell the French people that we will never give in,” he said in a statement outside the Élysée Palace, in Paris. “We will not give in to the terrorist threat. The times have changed, and France should learn to live with terrorism.” Graphic television and video images showed the truck accelerating and tearing through the crowd, dozens of victims sprawled in its path, and the bullet-riddled windshield of the vehicle. Municipal officials and police officers initially described the truck as having been full of weapons and grenades, but those accounts had not been verified.
As French officials quickly concluded that terrorism was the likely motive and 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. Witnesses described scenes of pandemonium, with conflicting accounts on social media. Officials forcefully urged people not to spread rumors, specifically citing as false reports of a hostage-taking in Nice and an explosion at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, where there was a small, accidental fire.
The officials warned residents to stay indoors and canceled all further scheduled festivities in Nice, a seaside city of 340,000, including a five-day jazz festival and a concert on Friday night by Rihanna.
“There are numerous victims,” said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, on BFM Television. “It’s a tragic, exceptional situation.”
Witnesses described scenes of pandemonium, with conflicting accounts on social media, including a false report of hostage-taking in Nice.
“We were enjoying the celebrations when we suddenly saw people running everywhere and tables being pushed down by the movement of panic,” said Daphne Burandé, 15, who was at a bar near the beach to watch the fireworks.“We were enjoying the celebrations when we suddenly saw people running everywhere and tables being pushed down by the movement of panic,” said Daphne Burandé, 15, who was at a bar near the beach to watch the fireworks.
“No one explained to us what was happening, and I heard some gunshots not very far away,” she said. “I waited at the bar for more information because I thought it was a false alert. But then, people were still running.”“No one explained to us what was happening, and I heard some gunshots not very far away,” she said. “I waited at the bar for more information because I thought it was a false alert. But then, people were still running.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and the identity of the driver was not immediately clear, but the newspaper Nice Matin reported early Friday that he was a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian origin. Another witness, Raja el-Kamel, said the attack seemed, at first, as if it might have been the act of a drunken driver.
Christian Estrosi, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France, which includes Nice, expressed outrage, sympathy and frustration in an interview with BFM-TV on Friday morning, pointedly noting previous attacks on a satirical newspaper in Paris in January 2015; the coordinated series of attacks in and around Paris in November that included a music hall, the Bataclan, among its targets; and the attacks this year in Brussels. “There was a white truck that was advancing slowly,” Ms. Kamel, 43, said. “Then it started to plow into the crowd, zigzagging and crushing people. I could not believe it.”
“Questions are raised,” he said. “As I try to comfort the families, I also try to contain my anger; I can’t hide to you that I feel a deep anger. How is it possible in our country that, after everyone said there was a state of emergency, a state of war, we forgot it after Charlie Hebdo, and then there was the Bataclan. After the Bataclan, we forgot, and then there was Brussels. After Brussels, we forgot and there was Nice.” “But then I saw him aiming at people and crushing them,” she said.
“There are questions that need to be answered,” he said. She added: “I was looking on my right, and there were bodies on the ground. I was looking on my left, there were also many bodies on the ground. It was a massacre.”
Mr. Estrosi said that the families needed time to mourn, and added that it was “our duty” to support them. But he also asked how it was possible that an individual was apparently able to breach security, and he said that he expected an answer from Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister. Christian Estrosi, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France, which includes Nice, expressed outrage, sympathy and frustration in an interview with BFM-TV on Friday morning, pointedly noting previous attacks on a satirical newspaper in Paris in January 2015; the November assaults, including at the Bataclan concert hall, and the attacks this year in Brussels.
“I don’t want to hear the usual, ‘We are going to carry out an investigation,’ ” he said. “Questions are raised,” he said. “As I try to comfort the families, I also try to contain my anger, I can’t hide to you that I feel a deep anger. How is it possible in our country that after everyone said there was a state of emergency, a state of war, we forget it, after Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan. After the Bataclan, we forgot, and there was Brussels. After Brussels, we forgot, and there was Nice, so there are questions that need to be answered.”
Mr. Estrosi said that the families needed time to mourn, and he added that it was “our duty” to support them. But he also asked how it was possible that a single individual was apparently able to breach security, and said that he expected an answer from Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister.
“I don’t want to hear the usual ‘we are going to do an investigation commission,’ ” he said.
The attack amounted to a gut-punch to a nation that was struggling to restore some sense of normalcy and had begun to drop its guard.The attack amounted to a gut-punch to a nation that was struggling to restore some sense of normalcy and had begun to drop its guard.
Hours after Mr. Hollande said during Bastille Day festivities in Paris that “we cannot prolong the state of emergency eternally,” a massive white truck came crashing through in Nice. Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told the iTélé television station that the region has activated a so-called White Plan, put in place after the November assaults, , and opened all emergency rooms to receive victims.
The main strip through Nice was littered with bodies, one after the other. The Islamic State, the militant group that asserted responsibility for the attacks in Paris, did not make any immediate claims for the Nice assault.
“Whatever the nature of what happened in Nice, the threat of terrorism is particularly high,” Mr. Brandet, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said on the iTele television station. He added that security forces were on high alert in the area and in cities around France.
Dozens of people were seriously injured, and many more were psychologically shocked, Mr. Brandet said. The region has activated a so-called White Plan, put in place during the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attacks that killed 130 people, to open all emergency rooms to receive victims, he added.
The Islamic State, the militant group that asserted responsibility for the attacks in Paris, did not make any immediate claims for the assault in Nice.
It typically takes the Islamic State several hours, and sometimes up to one and even two days, to assert responsibility for attacks in Western countries. It typically does so through its Amaq channel on the encrypted telephone app Telegram, which serves as the group’s news wire.It typically takes the Islamic State several hours, and sometimes up to one and even two days, to assert responsibility for attacks in Western countries. It typically does so through its Amaq channel on the encrypted telephone app Telegram, which serves as the group’s news wire.
However, as in the hours immediately after the Paris, Brussels and Orlando attacks, there was a now familiar celebration on channels run by groups that support the Islamic State, as well as on at least one channel affiliated with the group, also known as ISIS and ISIL. They cheered the carnage.However, as in the hours immediately after the Paris, Brussels and Orlando attacks, there was a now familiar celebration on channels run by groups that support the Islamic State, as well as on at least one channel affiliated with the group, also known as ISIS and ISIL. They cheered the carnage.
On a channel created on Thursday, called the United Cyber Caliphate, run by a group that has previously tried to carry out cyberattacks in the Islamic State’s name, a message included a single word — France — followed by a smiley face. On a channel created Thursday, called the United Cyber Caliphate, run by a group that has previously tried to carry out cyberattacks in the Islamic State’s name, a message included a single word — France — followed by a smiley face.
The channel of an Islamic State member, Aswarti Media, which has repeatedly been shut down and claims 1,987 members, was posting the phrase “Allahu akbar.” Yet another channel suspected of being for the Islamic State showed an image of the Eiffel Tower going up in flames. The channel of an Islamic State member, Aswarti Media, which has repeatedly been shut down and claims 1,987 members, was posting the phrase “Allahu akbar.” Yet another suspected pro-ISIS channel showed an image of the Eiffel Tower going up in flames.
The attack in Nice took place just as the Euro 2016 soccer tournament had concluded. France had hosted the tournament, and the entire country had been on high alert. There had been reports that suspects linked to the attacks in Paris and the Brussels assault in March had planned an attack during the tournament. The Nice attack took place less than a week after the end of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament. France had hosted the tournament, and the entire country had been on high alert. There had been reports that suspects linked to the attacks in Paris and the Brussels assault in March had planned an attack during the tournament.
With tens of thousands of people gathered at stadiums and in designated “fan zones” during the games, the police and private security took extraordinary measures to try to secure the sites.With tens of thousands of people gathered at stadiums and in designated “fan zones” during the games, the police and private security took extraordinary measures to try to secure the sites.
It was difficult to know if the measures were successful or if in fact there were no plans to attack the soccer tournament. It was difficult to know whether the measures were successful or if in fact there were no plans to attack the soccer tournament, and the question on many people’s minds was whether the security forces, as well as civilians, let their guard down once the tournament was over.
One question people will be asking is whether the security forces, as well as civilians, let their guard down once the tournament was over thinking that the danger had passed.
Several witnesses spoke on iTele. A man who gave his name as Michel, working at the Voilier Plage restaurant in front of the Promenade des Anglais, said that around 10:30 p.m., a large white truck drove into a crowd that had gathered near the beach. “A huge number of people started running, then there was a lot of gunfire,” he said.
Another witness who owns a restaurant nearby, whom iTele did not identify, said that when the truck plowed into the crowd, it “crushed everyone in its path.”
French television showed footage of a panicked crowd running from the scene. On Twitter, witnesses posted grim photographs of bodies lying in a pile on the asphalt.