Attack In Nice: '73 Dead' As Truck Hits Crowd

At least 73 people are reported to have been killed and dozens injured after a truck ploughed into a crowd in an apparent attack in the French city of Nice.

(SkyNews)- Eyewitnesses say the driver picked up speed to slam the lorry into revellers celebrating Bastille Day along the city’s famous Promenade des Anglais. There are unconfirmed reports that he then emerged from the vehicle and started shooting. “We almost died. It was like hallucinating… (the lorry) zigzagged,” an eyewitness told i-Tele.

“You had no idea where it was going. My wife… a metre away … she was dead. “The lorry ripped through everything. Poles, trees, we have never seen anything like it in our lives. Some people were hanging on the door trying to stop it,” the witness said.

Another witness said the driver sped along the promenade for at least 2-3 miles, mowing people down along the way. Graphic images from the scene show bodies strewn across the promenade.

Local officials are reporting that the driver has been killed, while local newspaper Le Parisien is saying a possible accomplice has fled the scene.

Several weapons, guns and grenades were found inside the vehicle, a local source told local newspaper Le Figaro.

The attack happened as spectators gathered to watch a Bastille Day fireworks display on city’s landmark promenade, which runs some four miles along the waterfront. Authorities in Nice are urging local residents to stay in their homes.

The Gendarmerie Nationale tweeted: “Emergency operation in progress. Keep calm and avoid downtown area. Follow the official accounts to be informed.”

(Developing Story)