Truck attack death toll rises to 80
Jul 14, 2016, 2:56 PM | Updated: 10:03 pm
NICE, France (AP) —French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says 80 people have died in a truck attack on the seaside avenue of Nice, and 18 people are in critical condition.
Numerous others have been wounded, he said after traveling to the scene.
“The identification of the criminal is in progress,” he said, refusing to confirm reports that an ID card was found after police shot the truck driver dead.
“We are in a war with terrorists who want to strike us at any price and in a very violent way,” the minister said.
President Francois Hollande says he will call a defense council meeting Friday that brings together defense, interior and other key ministers, before heading to Nice.
Besides ensuring continuation of the state of emergency and the Sentinel operation that puts 10,000 soldiers on patrol, he said he was calling up reserve to help police, particularly at French borders.
U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned what he says “appears to be a horrific terrorist attack” in Nice.
Obama says, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved-ones of those killed.”
Noting that the attack occurred on Bastille Day, Obama praised “the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world.”
Obama is offering French officials “any assistance that they may need to investigate this attack and bring those responsible to justice.”
France’s ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, characterized the events in Nice as a “terrorist attack.”
“Our democracies — France, the United States, our other partners, we are besieged, we face a terrible threat,” Araud said at a Bastille Day reception at the French Embassy in Washington late Thursday.
Writing online, Nice Matin journalist Damien Allemand who was at the waterside said the fireworks display had finished and the crowd had got up to leave when they heard a noise and cries.
“A fraction of a second later, an enormous white truck came along at a crazy speed, turning the wheel to mow down the maximum number of people,” he said.
“I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget.”
Allemand said people took shelter in a nearby restaurant, where he continued to hear people shouting for missing family members. He ventured out and saw bodies, blood and body parts all along the road.
“This evening, it was horror,” Allemand concluded.
