NY Daily News:
A truck plowed through crowds of Bastille Day revelers Thursday night in the southern French town of Nice, killing at least 73 people and wounding dozens of others.
The beachside celebration quickly turned to chaos as the driver reportedly opened fire on the crowd as a fireworks show ended and then slammed the panel truck loaded with grenades and other weapons through throngs of people.
The driver was shot dead by police, said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for French Interior Ministry.
Sylvie Toffin, a press officer with the local prefecture, said the truck “hit several people on a long trip” down the sidewalk near Nice’s Palais de la Méditerranee, a building which fronts the beach.
She confirmed the incident was deliberate.
“It’s an attack,” she said.
Christian Estrosi, president of the region, says the truck was loaded with firearms and grenades.
Some witnesses said the truck zig-zagged through the massive crowd, aiming at people as they ran from the carnage.
“Everyone was calling ‘run, run, run, there’s an attack, run, run, run,’” an eyewitness told BFM-TV. “We heard some shots. We thought they were fireworks because it’s the 14th of July.”
Another witness said the truck accelerated as it mowed into the panicked mass of people. The driver then exited the cab with a gun in hand and started shooting.
“There was carnage on the road,” Wassim Bouhlel, a resident of the resort city told the Associated Press. “Bodies everywhere.”
The large box truck plowed into a gathering at the Promenade des Anglais just after a fireworks display around 10:30 local time, local newspaper Nice Matin reported.
Photos published by the newspaper at the scene showed a white truck with bullet holes in its windshield surrounded by armored police officers.