There were bodies, bodies everywhere”
Nice is a city in shock. This community of about 340,000 people has
for decades defined itself by its serene beauty and breezy Mediterranean
lifestyle but on Friday, its famed seafront, the Promenade des Anglais
was splattered with blood and closed by police.
The 19-tonne commercial truck, used to kill at least 84 people, was being examined by police on the promenade, while others searched the north-Nice home of the driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel,31, who was himself killed by police after careering through crowds for a least one mile.
Tourists and locals described how—just as the fireworks and music were reaching their final crescendo—they spotted a white truck move towards them at high speed, and then plough into crowds. Some said they momentarily froze in terror as they watched the vehicle mow down babies, children, men and women, crushing strollers and bodies in its wake.
“There were bodies, bodies everywhere,” says Habiba Sbai, 50, a Tunisian woman who immigrated to Nice 20 years ago, and works as a contractor. Holding back tears, she said she and her husband fled to their apartment a few blocks from the promenade, terrified that there might be further attacks. There they sat up all night, shaken. “I saw a baby lying dead in front of me,” she says. “After seeing that, I cannot sleep. I cannot work.”Her cell phone rang while she was speaking: It was a friend informing her that her colleague had been killed.
The 19-tonne commercial truck, used to kill at least 84 people, was being examined by police on the promenade, while others searched the north-Nice home of the driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel,31, who was himself killed by police after careering through crowds for a least one mile.
Tourists and locals described how—just as the fireworks and music were reaching their final crescendo—they spotted a white truck move towards them at high speed, and then plough into crowds. Some said they momentarily froze in terror as they watched the vehicle mow down babies, children, men and women, crushing strollers and bodies in its wake.
“There were bodies, bodies everywhere,” says Habiba Sbai, 50, a Tunisian woman who immigrated to Nice 20 years ago, and works as a contractor. Holding back tears, she said she and her husband fled to their apartment a few blocks from the promenade, terrified that there might be further attacks. There they sat up all night, shaken. “I saw a baby lying dead in front of me,” she says. “After seeing that, I cannot sleep. I cannot work.”Her cell phone rang while she was speaking: It was a friend informing her that her colleague had been killed.
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