One
witness, an American who was about 15 feet from the truck, said the
driver pointed his tractor trailer into the crowd and accelerated,
mowing bodies over. The driver was shot to death, authorities said.
Here are the latest developments in the tragedy:
•
Preliminary information from French officials is that there was one
individual in the truck, according to a U.S. law enforcement official
briefed on the attack. The individual, a male, was killed by police and
it does not appear there was any gunfire from the truck, according to
the official.
Subprefect Sebastien Humbert, of the
Alpes-Maritimes region, described the incident as a "major criminal
attack," according to AFP.
•
The driver of the truck that drove into the crowd was shot dead by
police, said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for French Interior
Ministry. There was no hostage situation at any point, he said.
•
U.S. President Barack Obama has been apprised of the situation in
Nice and his national security team will update him, said National
Security Council spokesperson Ned Price.
•
Witness Tony Molina said he can see 70-100 emergency vehicles. Two
helicopters have landed, he said. Bodies are covered in blue tarps and
marked so emergency vehicles don't run over them, he said.
•
Maryam Violet, a witness, said she was walking along the beach and saw
"a ton of people on the ground and on the sidewalk." "You could see
someone with a bike or a wheelchair and someone with a bag full of
flowers, innocent and normal people on the beach."
•
French President Francois Hollande is returning to Paris from Avignon
for emergency talks at the Interior Ministry after the mass casualty
incident in Nice, according to French national radio.
• Facebook has activated the Safety Check feature for people in and around the area of the attack.
•
An American witness at the scene said the driver of the truck was
mowing bodies over, and that he appeared to accelerate as he hit those
bodies. The witness said he saw only the driver. He heard gunfire as he
ran away, but did not know its source. It seemed like an accident at
first, but it became apparent very quickly that it was deliberate
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