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15 July 2016

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Contrary to an earlier report, one Malaysian was hurt.

By James Sivalingam – 15 July 2016 @ 9:16 PM

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• TODAY ‏@TODAYonline 1h1 hour ago

  JUST IN: #Nice truck attack death toll rises to 84, says French interior ministry http://bit.ly/29MHtng 

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OutFrontCNN Verified account ‏@OutFrontCNN 4m4 minutes ago

Tragedy in #NiceFrance ◘ Official: At least 73 killed ◘ Official: Truck driver shot dead by police ◘ Obama apprised

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Truck Plows Into Crowd in France; Many Reported Dead

New York Times World Verified account ‏@nytimesworld 10m10 minutes ago

Video of the aftermath of deadly truck assault in Nice, France: http://nyti.ms/29U9rQk

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There have been scenes of chaos in the French city of Nice after a truck slammed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, with officials saying dozens of people are dead and up to 100 have been injured.

ABC News 24 producer David Coady was walking back to his nearby holiday accommodation when the tragedy took place.

This is what he saw

The streets along the promenade were completely packed with families – young, old – watching the Bastille Day fireworks about 10 o’clock local time.

… I looked through the throngs of crowd, and I looked towards a truck, and I thought it was out of place, was among the crowd, and then I started hearing screaming.

I turned and started to run with the crowd away from the screaming. Where I’m staying is just about one block away from where that incident has happened.

As Coady ran, he heard loud bangs behind him

I wasn’t sure what they were, but every time I heard a bang, the crowd would scream, would run, perhaps faster.

People were tripping over in the commotion, there was a lot of panic at the time. I was running past restaurants where people had got up and left their meals. There was just a lot of panic going on.

He says there was confusion on the street

Of course, France is very tense … still in the state of emergency after last year’s terror attacks in Paris. There’s a lot of security around. But on the promenade itself, there wasn’t any particular cordon.

It was a large public gathering. The fireworks had just finished. People were moving on trying to make their way through the crowd when all of this started to unfold.

People were trying to get into hotels, any businesses that were open, trying to take shelter because it was unclear what was happening. And with each bang that we heard behind us, people perhaps started to go a bit faster. People were tripping over, it was a very chaotic scene.

I made my way back to the holiday accommodation where I’m staying, and to get here I had to loop around the block, almost moving towards the scene of the incident.

As Coady spoke to ABC News 24, there were still sirens

I wanted to get inside as fast as possible, but I was also thinking about the possibility of if there was some kind of ongoing incident. And if those bangs were gun shots, then I didn’t want to be getting close to them.

But there were police starting to move to the area, and I made my way towards the entrance to this apartment building where I’m staying, and some families with young children had got in and were taking shelter in the stairwell.

A shoe had been lost along the way, a woman that we passed in the lobby had lost her keys, and people were just desperate to get off the streets, such was the panic.

I’m not monitoring local media. I’m certainly not going back outside, so there is still at least an investigation under way.

The situation is ongoing. Whether or not it’s completely safe, I don’t know.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-15/nice-attack-firsthand-account-of-the-panic-on-the-streets/7631544

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