A 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people. The driver was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack has been classified as jihadist terrorism by Europol.
About 2016 Nice truck attack in brief
A 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and the injury of 458 others. The driver was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. On 15 July, François Molins, the prosecutor for the Public Ministry, which is overseeing the investigation, said the attack bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism. French President François Hollande called the attack an act of Islamic terrorism, announced an extension of the state of emergency for a further three months, and announced an intensification of French airstrikes on ISIL in Syria and Iraq. Six suspects had been taken into custody on charges of \”criminal terrorist conspiracy\”, three of whom were also charged for complicity in murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise. On 16 December three further suspects, allegedly involved in the supply of illegal weapons to the driver, were charged. The attack has been classified as jihadist terrorism by Europol. The French government declared three days of national mourning starting on 16 July. Thousands of extra police and soldiers were deployed while the government called on citizens to join the reserve forces. France had just finished hosting the Euro 2016 football tournament, during which the country had extensive security measures in place. On the evening of 14 July, the Bastille day celebrations in Nice drew crowds of 30,000 and included an aerial display by the French Air Force.
The promenade had been closed to traffic and, as in preceding years, a long section including the large hotels had been converted into a pedestrian zone. The customary BastilleDay fireworks display took place between 22: 00 and 22: 20. The truck accelerated and mounted on to the kerb to force its way through the police barriers—a police car, a crowd control barrier and lane separators—marking the beginning of the pedestrianised zone. Having broken through the barrier, the truck, driving in a zigzag fashion, knocked down random members of the crowd milling about on the pavement and in the three traffic lanes on the seaward side of the Promanade. After reaching the Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen, a motorcyclist who threw his scooter under the front wheels, mounted the truck at the intersection with ruebeer, struck the driver and struck the butt of the driver’s gun, before being hit with the head of the truck’s gun. This was followed by an exchange of gunfire between police and the truck driver. The Tunisian driver was shot and killed by police after the attack, and police returned fire with their 9mm handguns; he fell off the side of his truck and suffered moderate injuries as he lay on the ground. On 1 August, six suspects were taken into. custody on charge of \” criminal terrorist conspiracy\” and three of them were also charge for complicity to murder. The truck had been travelling at close to 90 kilometres per hour and mounting onto the pavement as if out of control, it hit and killed numerous bystanders before passing.
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