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Nice lorry attack: Scenes of carnage in French city

Attacker smashes lorry into a crowd in Nice, sending hundreds fleeing in terror and leaving the area strewn with bodies.

The attacker behind the wheel drove the truck into the crowd on Nice's Promenade des Anglais during Bastille Day celebrations. [Olivier Anrigo/EPA]
The attacker behind the wheel drove the truck into the crowd on Nice's Promenade des Anglais during Bastille Day celebrations. [Olivier Anrigo/EPA]
15 Jul 2016

At least 80 people, including many children, have been killed and another 100 wounded after an attacker drove a lorry at high speed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city of Nice.

The lorry careered for hundreds of metres along the Promenade des Anglais seafront late on Thursday, slamming into families and friends after a firework display marking the anniversary of the 1789 revolutionary storming of the Bastille.

Witnesses described a horrific scene, with bodies strewn along the roadway.

“People went down like ninepins,” Jacques, who runs Le Queenie restaurant on the seafront, told the France Info radio station.

“It’s a scene of horror,” Eric Ciotti, a local member of parliament, told the station, saying the truck “mowed down several hundred people”.

In a pre-dawn address to the nation, French President Francois Hollande said “France is filled with sadness by this new tragedy”.

Hollande said he had no doubt  the attack was an act of “terrorism”, calling it an assault on liberty by fanatics who despised human rights.

The attacker was shot dead after ramming the lorry through the festive crowd for two kilometres, sending hundreds of people fleeing in terror and leaving the area strewn with bodies. [Ciaran Fahey/AP]
The attacker was shot dead after ramming the lorry through the festive crowd for two kilometres, sending hundreds of people fleeing in terror and leaving the area strewn with bodies. [Ciaran Fahey/AP]
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A photograph showing the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes. [Eric Gaillard/Reuters]
A photograph showing the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes. [Eric Gaillard/Reuters]
'There was carnage on the road,' Wassim Bouhlel, a Nice native, told the Associated Press news agency. 'Bodies everywhere'. [Eric Gaillard/Reuters]
'There was carnage on the road,' Wassim Bouhlel, a Nice native, told the Associated Press news agency. 'Bodies everywhere'. [Eric Gaillard/Reuters]
People cross the street with their hands on their heads as a French soldier secures the area. [Jean-Pierre Amet/Reuters]
People cross the street with their hands on their heads as a French soldier secures the area. [Jean-Pierre Amet/Reuters]
The attack is the third mass killing in France in less than 18 months. [Olivier Anrigo/EPA]
The attack is the third mass killing in France in less than 18 months. [Olivier Anrigo/EPA]
Wounded people are evacuated from the scene. [Olivier Anrigo/EPA]
Wounded people are evacuated from the scene. [Olivier Anrigo/EPA]
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Workers arrange fences at the Promenade Des Anglais, near the scene of the attack. [Luca Bruno/AP]
Workers arrange fences at the Promenade Des Anglais, near the scene of the attack. [Luca Bruno/AP]
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