Minutes after the last fireworks rang out above the Promenade des Anglais, thousands of people were enjoying Nice’s balmy evening air read the Daily Mail article giving a blow-by-blow account of what went down in Nice on that fateful day.
Families had travelled to the resort from around the world to celebrate Bastille Day, France’s biggest public holiday.
Revellers, many still in beachwear, teemed across the walkway and boulevard.
Amid the hubbub of jazz music, drinking and gentle conversation, few noticed an anonymous white lorry entering the pedestrianised zone…
The 19-tonne lorry had been parked in a suburban street in eastern Nice, within the cordon set up for the evening celebrations.
The driver was caught on camera as he cycled up to the vehicle at 9.04pm, before tossing his bicycle in the back and driving towards the coast. Witnesses described the streets as filled with children, a ‘sea of people – families, straightforward people,’ watching the ‘spectacular’ display of fireworks.
At about 10.45pm local time, the driver revved the lorry’s powerful engine and pointed it towards unsuspecting bystanders in a street that had been cleared of traffic.
Some later told how although they could hear something moving, they could not see the lorry approach at first, as its lights were off.
Richard Gutjahr, a German TV journalist, said: ‘All of a sudden, with all the people, all the families celebrating, this truck was approaching.
‘It was approaching very slowly, it didn’t rush, but you could ask yourself: ‘What is a truck doing in the heart of this?’
Read more here.
Feature graphic courtesy The Daily Mail
