A lorry has struck a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations in the southern French city of Nice, media reports and witnesses say.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36800730

В Ницце десятки человек погибли, в толпу врезался грузовик

Французские СМИ сообщают, что в Ницце произошел теракт, унесший жизни около 50 человек.

В Ницце по меньшей мере 50 человек погибли, когда грузовик врезался в толпу, наблюдавшую за салютом во время празднования национального праздника Франции — Дня взятия Бастилии в четверг вечером. Об этом сообщают СМИ.

Неизвестные врезались в толпу на Английской набережной. Машина проехала через толпу несколько сотен метров. Затем террористы открыли огонь по людям. Французские СМИ сообщают, что «возникла также перестрелка людей в машине с полицией».

Полиция просит людей оставаться дома.

«Radio Svoboda»

Грузовой автомобиль врезался в толпу в Ницце: множество погибших

Грузовой автомобиль на большой скорости врезался в толпу на Английской набережной в Ницце. По данным городских властей, погибло более 70 человек, десятки ранены.

Грузовой автомобиль поздно вечером в четверг, 14 июля, въехал на большой скорости в толпу людей, отмечавших в Ницце французский национальный праздник День взятия Бастилии. По данным городских властей, погибли более 70 человек, десятки ранены.

Водитель грузовой машины застрелен, сообщил представитель министерства внутренних дел. О его мотивах пока ничего не известно. В машине были найдены огнестрельное оружие и гранаты.

Расследование атаки поручено подразделению парижской прокуратуры, специализирующемся на терактах. Заместитель префекта Приморские Альпы Себастьен Юмбер в интервью радио France Infos назвал случившееся «преступной атакой». Мэр города Кристиан Эстрози призвал горожан оставаться в своих домах и не выходить на улицы.

Агентство France 24 опубликовало видео с места происшествия.

Трагедия произошла на Английской набережной, в то время, когда толпа людей вышла посмотреть на ежегодный феерверк в честь празднования Дня взятия Бастилии. Причины происшествия пока неизвестны. По неподтвержденным данным, происшествие могло быть запланированной атакой неизвестного, сообщает агентство AP.

В министерстве внутренних дел Франции в Париже создан кризисный штаб в связи с трагедией в Ницце. Президент страны Франсуа Олланд провел телефонную конференцию с премьер-министром Мануэлем Вальсом и министром внутренних дел Бернаром Казневом, после чего отправился в Париж из Авиньона для участия в заседании штаба.

Президент США Барак Обама предложил Франции помощь в расследовании атаки в Ницце, которая, «похоже, является ужасающим террористическим актом», говорится в заявлении Белого дома.

Deutsche Welle

Nice, France, truck attack kills 75, official tells French TV

(CNN)At least 75 people were killed late Thursday night when a large truck plowed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, according to BFM TV citing Regional President Christian Estrozzi.

The driver pointed his tractor-trailer into the crowd and accelerated, mowing bodies over. The driver was shot to death, authorities said. At least 100 people were injured, authorities said.

Here are the latest developments in the tragedy:

• The attack in Nice, France, began when an occupant of the truck shot into the crowd and then drove for 2 kilometers along the pavement of the Boulevard des Anglais, the main street in Nice, regional President Christian Estrosi told CNN affiliate BFM-TV. He said police later found firearms, explosives and grenades in the truck.

• Anti-terror prosecutors have taken over the investigation, according to BFMTV, citing the prosecutor’s office.

• 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.

• Witness Ryan Hubbs said he encountered people on the street who’d lost multiple family members. They weren’t sure what to do but waited for authorities, though that was very difficult for them.

• President Obama issued a statement condemning the attack and saying, «We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack.»

• 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, the witness told CNN.

• BFM posted an image of the truck that reportedly was involved in the incident. The photo shows what appears to be bullet holes in the windshield of the white truck.

• Christian Estrosi, the head of the regional council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, said late Thursday: «Dear Nice residents, the driver of a truck appears to have caused tens of deaths. Stay for the moment in your homes. More info to come.»

• Eric Dartell was eating at a restaurant on the street where the incident happened. «You can see wreckage all along the way, a body, bicycles, street lamps and debris everywhere,» he said.

Developing story — more to come…

CNN

French President Francois Hollande and the country’s interior minister were holding a crisis meeting over the situation. The Interior Ministry said a catastrophe and disaster response plan was being implemented. U.S. President Barack Obama has been briefed on the situation, National Security Council spokesperson said.

Witnesses described the chaos after the truck hit the crowd.

«I looked up and saw, like, a tsunami wave of people just running towards me as fast as they possibly could screaming at the top of their lungs,» Dr. Kevin Motamedi, a Denver physician on a tour of Europe, told NBC News. «And I just grabbed who I was with and started running as fast as possible. It was basically just complete mass hysteria.»

«It was the scariest moment of my life, easily,» Motamedi said. «As we were running, you could tell the people in front of us had no idea that anything was going on, so we were running and grabbing people saying, ‘Run. Go home!'»

Eric Dratell, an American lawyer working in London, is in Nice on vacation with his wife. They were having dinner at Le Sporting on the beach when his wife heard what she thought was gunfire.

«We started running for cover. People started jumping from promenade level onto the beach,» Dratell told NBC News. «A guy jumped on my wife,» who was injured, he said.

«We took shelter with 200 or more people in an area under the promenade. People were in crowded toilet stalls,» Dratell said. «This is shocking,» he said.

Following the incident, Nice’s former mayor Christian Estrosi tweeted in French, «Dear Nicois, the driver of a truck appears to have made a dozens of deaths. For the moment, stay in your home. More info to come.»

France has been on edge since a series of coordinated terror attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people dead. The terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.

Obama condemned «what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack» and said the U.S. is prepared to offer France assistance if needed.

«Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of those killed, and we wish a full recovery for the many wounded,» Obama said in a statement. «We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack,» Obama said.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility by ISIS through its official or unofficial channels, according to Flashpoint Intelligence, an international terrorism research organization.

NBC