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France attacked by a horrific ‘truck terror’ on its day of freedom

France attacked by a horrific ‘truck terror’ on its day of freedom

Posted July. 16, 2016 07:26,   

Updated July. 16, 2016 07:32

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On the Bastille Day celebrating the French Revolution, thousands of tourists were watching the last minutes of fireworks along the beaches of Nice, a popular vacation city of France. Nearby restaurants were still brightly lit up and people were clinging their glasses to background music.

It was around 10:30 p.m. when local newspaper Nice Matin's reporter Damien Allemand of heard gunfire on the way back home. Then he saw a large white truck rampaging on the beachside street, crushing the crowd. “Bodies flew like bowling pins”, he said. “The driver seemed to be intended to hit as many people as possible. It was a truck of death.”

The truck passed by the journalist in just several meters away. He was frozen in fear. Many people were screaming and crying. One of them shouted to him, “Run away!”

The 25-ton death truck entered the famed seaside path of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, and ploughed on in the speed of 60-70 kilometer per hour. It zigzagged and drove over hundreds of pedestrians. The crazy drive finally ended after running 2 kilometers along the Prom.

The crowd was exceptionally big on the night, being summer vacation season and a public holiday. Some confirmed that loud DJ music was one of the reasons why many did not immediately notice the incident. “The truck went on to constantly run over people on the street,” testified a witness about the cruelty of the scene. The panicked crowed ran inside nearby hotels and restaurants, feeling a threat of death from what they are seeing.

Another onlooker named Michelle said on a local TV that she heard gunshots here and there. The stopped truck was covered with dozens of gun traces on the front window. Some sources said that the truck driver shot drive-by or there have been exchanges of gunfire between the criminal and the police.

Meanwhile, a number of loaded firearms and explosives are known to be found inside the truck. An ID of a 31-year-old French national male was also discovered, but no further details were disclosed. The French government defined the incident as terrorism. The New York Times wrote that the attack occurred in just a few hours after the government had announced to lift the state of emergency from the coming 26th, which was issued after the series of attacks in Paris last November. French President Francois Hollande, who had said “we cannot continue to live in a state of emergency forever,” pledging to go back to a normal state, declared extension of the state for additional three months.



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