:00:08. > :00:09.I'm Christian Fraser live from the French city
:00:10. > :00:13.of Nice where 84 people, including 10 children,
:00:14. > :00:15.have been killed by a truck driven at speed into crowds
:00:16. > :00:30.gathered speed directly targeting spectators and holidaymakers
:00:31. > :00:33.in what's being described as a terrorist attack.
:00:34. > :00:35.People were running everywhere, screaming.
:00:36. > :00:50.In that moment, we understood that it's something serious.
:00:51. > :00:53.The driver of the truck was finally shot and killed by police.
:00:54. > :01:00.He's thought to be a 31-year-old French-Tunisian.
:01:01. > :01:03.People fled in panic as the lorry drove along the city's promenade.
:01:04. > :01:04.The French President says the country faces
:01:05. > :01:13.We have an enemy who will continue to hate all the peoples,
:01:14. > :01:23.all the countries, who put liberty as the essential value.
:01:24. > :01:26.As the government here declares three days of national mourning,
:01:27. > :01:54.a service is held at Nice cathedral to pay tribute to the victims.
:01:55. > :02:00.Good evening, happening with alarming regularity, but this time
:02:01. > :02:05.not with automatic weapons, not a suicide vest, but with a truck,
:02:06. > :02:08.terrifyingly simple, just as effective and deadly. Throughout the
:02:09. > :02:15.course of the Day today, in the hot sun, down here on the Promenade des
:02:16. > :02:20.Anglais, police have been working on a crime scene that goes over one
:02:21. > :02:28.mile. The truck driven by 31 euros Tunisia Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel
:02:29. > :02:33.drove down the promenade without a shred of mercy. 84 people killed,
:02:34. > :02:39.ten children, and 52 people remain in a critical condition.
:02:40. > :02:42.The attack happened at around 11pm local time Nice,
:02:43. > :02:44.on the seafront avenue, the Promenade des Anglais,
:02:45. > :02:49.The road has been partially closed to allow pedestrians to use it
:02:50. > :02:53.Eyewitnesses say the truck hit several people near
:02:54. > :02:55.the Hotel Negresco, a well-known local landmark.
:02:56. > :02:58.The hotel's lobby was used as a clearing station to treat
:02:59. > :03:01.the wounded and offer emergency medical help.
:03:02. > :03:04.The lorry continued along the Promenade until it had almost
:03:05. > :03:07.reached the Palais de la Mediterranee.
:03:08. > :03:09.Police say there was an exchange of gunfire,
:03:10. > :03:14.which resulted in the driver, being shot dead.
:03:15. > :03:17.President Hollande said he deplored what he called a terrorist attack
:03:18. > :03:21.and announced an extension of the national state
:03:22. > :03:32.We need to wait and see, there is no direct link to any terrorist group.
:03:33. > :03:37.The prosecutor investigating says they are looking into the background
:03:38. > :03:40.of the driver. There has been a national state of emergency in place
:03:41. > :03:41.which will be extended for another three months.
:03:42. > :03:44.Our Correspondent Lucy Williamson has our first report.
:03:45. > :03:50.It contains images you may find distressing.
:03:51. > :04:02.Each lovers, partygoers and children.
:04:03. > :04:09.Hunted with the most mundane of weapons, a lorry.
:04:10. > :04:13.It arrived as the fireworks were ending, crawling
:04:14. > :04:15.onto the promenade before picking up speed and heading straight
:04:16. > :04:23.Its first appearance caught on camera by this man.
:04:24. > :04:29.Up until this very moment here, the truck actually didn't
:04:30. > :04:33.run over anybody, yet there was a motorcyclist trying
:04:34. > :04:35.to approach the truck, trying to open the door while driving.
:04:36. > :04:40.He failed and fell off the motorcycle.
:04:41. > :04:43.And then there were two police officers standing right here at that
:04:44. > :04:45.very corner and they fired two gunshots at the driver
:04:46. > :04:55.Up until then, the rampage took place.
:04:56. > :05:02.The vehicle accelerated and ran in a very odd way,
:05:03. > :05:18.It zigzagged for more than a mile through the street
:05:19. > :05:23.Bodies were falling like skittles, one witness said.
:05:24. > :05:25.Another saw parents throwing their children over fences
:05:26. > :05:41.The police surrounded the car and they kept shooting him
:05:42. > :05:46.I saw him dead already, I've saw his head outside
:05:47. > :05:53.Again, the French police officer, when he saw me standing up
:05:54. > :05:57.and filming, he came to be aggressively and yelled at me to get
:05:58. > :06:01.And for all the people on the beach to run,
:06:02. > :06:04.because maybe they thought there was a bomb in the car
:06:05. > :06:09.or other people hiding inside the truck from behind.
:06:10. > :06:12.At that moment, I realised that this is really something wrong
:06:13. > :06:31.and I started to run with the people.
:06:32. > :06:39.Police found a fake rifle, and into grenade, and very documents.
:06:40. > :06:41.French officials say the driver was a local man,
:06:42. > :06:47.a 31-year-old French Tunisian known to police for petty crimes.
:06:48. > :06:49.Today, the only figures on Nice's empty sea
:06:50. > :06:51.front was forensics team, picking their way through
:06:52. > :06:56.France was just begin to feel safe again after the attacks last year,
:06:57. > :07:00.safe enough even to come out and celebrate being French.
:07:01. > :07:04.But as people ran, screaming, down the street, last night,
:07:05. > :07:08.the sound of gunfire mimicking fireworks, that moment of national
:07:09. > :07:14.pride and national unity became once again an individual race to survive.
:07:15. > :07:17.Imad said he froze when he saw the lorry and then ran
:07:18. > :07:24.Above the screams, he heard the lorry's engine just behind him,
:07:25. > :07:32.And then when I jumped over the bench, I found myself...
:07:33. > :07:36.I jumped onto a woman, she was laying on the ground.
:07:37. > :07:39.I just closed my eyes and waited for the crash.
:07:40. > :07:48.I was feeling I was going to die, I was feeling really, really scared.
:07:49. > :07:52.I didn't know what to do, but I gave up on that moment.
:07:53. > :07:56.Until I saw the bench breaking up, it was too loud and scary.
:07:57. > :08:02.I looked at it and I found it destroyed.
:08:03. > :08:10.The thing that was between me and the truck was a small bench.
:08:11. > :08:12.The French president arriving in Nice today,
:08:13. > :08:17.described the attack as a monstrosity.
:08:18. > :08:20.Of the 200 people injured, he said 50 were hovering
:08:21. > :08:28.TRANSLATION: We are facing a long battle because we are facing
:08:29. > :08:33.an enemy who will continue to hate all the peoples, the countries,
:08:34. > :08:40.who enjoy liberty, who put liberty as the essential value.
:08:41. > :08:42.The flowers blooming on the barricades mark
:08:43. > :08:46.a particular kind of pain, the slow knocking torture
:08:47. > :08:57.Attacks that highlight the price of freedom, the failure
:08:58. > :09:08.of fraternity and that brutal equaliser, death.
:09:09. > :09:13.I think the most shocking thing about what happened last night was
:09:14. > :09:17.this relentless procession of the truck down the road, it kept going
:09:18. > :09:25.and lumbering and at 40 to 50 miles an hour, mowing down people in its
:09:26. > :09:28.way, nothing to stop it. Only the actions of very brave police women
:09:29. > :09:32.and men who were on the promenade who exchanged gunfire 300 metres
:09:33. > :09:36.from where the lorry stopped, and again, eventually killing the
:09:37. > :09:39.driver, ported to a halt. By that time, 84 people had been killed.
:09:40. > :09:41.Our correspondent Jon Donnison has more details.
:09:42. > :09:43.It was supposed to be a night of celebration.
:09:44. > :09:50.It ended in confusion, chaos and carnage.
:09:51. > :09:52.The attack started around 11pm local time, as thousands
:09:53. > :09:57.of families strolled home after a night of fireworks.
:09:58. > :10:00.The lorry was heading east along the Promenade des Anglais,
:10:01. > :10:02.and picked up speed on a rampage that was to last
:10:03. > :10:08.Within minutes, the first casualties were reported.
:10:09. > :10:12.The driver began to swerve from side to side, trying to kill as many
:10:13. > :10:18.He then careered into the pedestrian area.
:10:19. > :10:22.Armed police opened fire, but couldn't stop him,
:10:23. > :10:26.as he continued to plough through the crowd.
:10:27. > :10:30.Eyewitnesses say he was travelling at around 50 mph.
:10:31. > :10:37.You can see the Promenade des Anglais just behind the famous
:10:38. > :10:41.Hotel Negresco at the bottom of this street.
:10:42. > :10:43.By this point, several minutes into the attack,
:10:44. > :10:47.he had already killed dozens of people and it was to be 300
:10:48. > :10:52.or 400 more metres that way before he was finally stopped,
:10:53. > :10:57.Finally, further down the promenade, using heavy fire, police managed
:10:58. > :11:03.to stop the lorry and kill the driver, as people fled in panic.
:11:04. > :11:05.Matthew Scouller, from Kingston upon Thames,
:11:06. > :11:09.to be a dream holiday with his girlfriend.
:11:10. > :11:12.Today, he knows they are lucky to be alive.
:11:13. > :11:16.There was a lady in front of us on a scooter, with her kids,
:11:17. > :11:18.She wasn't trampled, but there were people
:11:19. > :11:23.People were picking up kids and running,
:11:24. > :11:25.and the kids were crying, as you can imagine.
:11:26. > :11:28.People didn't really know what was going on.
:11:29. > :11:33.This was not a high-tech attack, but the brutality and the banality
:11:34. > :11:36.of the method make it all the more terrifying.
:11:37. > :11:58.It very difficult thing to come to terms with those who were here, it
:11:59. > :12:00.Bastille day separations are very colourful and loud, and they can be
:12:01. > :12:04.very confusing, they can be. Let's speak to an eyewitness,
:12:05. > :12:12.Simon Coates. I know this has been a difficult day
:12:13. > :12:18.for your wife, I will speak to you. Tell me what you saw. We just left
:12:19. > :12:23.the fireworks and we both cycling home along the cycle track of the
:12:24. > :12:28.promenade. We got separated in the crowd, and as I was halfway home,
:12:29. > :12:35.about one kilometre from here, I saw that there was a white van veering
:12:36. > :12:39.down the promenade, actually on the pedestrian section. At first I
:12:40. > :12:43.thought it was out of control, but then I heard the screams and I
:12:44. > :12:47.realised it was aiming at people and it was not out of control, the
:12:48. > :12:52.driver was directing it at people. Within a few seconds, it was almost
:12:53. > :13:00.upon me. I looked to my left and there was an older man, and a young
:13:01. > :13:06.boy, about ten, the truck aimed straight for them. I dived slightly
:13:07. > :13:10.to my right, the little boy, I do not know how, he managed to get away
:13:11. > :13:16.by inches with the truck aimed at him. I then realised that this guy
:13:17. > :13:21.was heading straight towards where I expected my wife would be coming so
:13:22. > :13:28.I turned around and followed the truck, and awaited devastation, body
:13:29. > :13:32.after body. I must have checked about four dozen, five dozen people
:13:33. > :13:37.to see if it was my wife. So you had lost your wife Eddie
:13:38. > :13:43.to see if it was my wife. So you had lost your wife and you did not know
:13:44. > :13:46.if she was one of these people? That's right, I didn't know. I was
:13:47. > :13:50.cycling past trying to identify whether one of these people were my
:13:51. > :13:56.wife. Some of the people had been hit head on, a lot had been dragged
:13:57. > :14:01.under the lorry and were not recognisable, so I was looking to
:14:02. > :14:07.see if I could recognise her bike or item of clothing or shoes. I did not
:14:08. > :14:12.see anybody that I recognised that I was not completely reassured so I
:14:13. > :14:19.followed the white lorry until it came to stop behind us by the Hotel
:14:20. > :14:21.Negresco, yards beyond that. I got to within 20 yards and I saw the
:14:22. > :14:28.policeman was standing there pointing his gun into the passenger
:14:29. > :14:34.window. I realised that there were no further bodies, no more to check
:14:35. > :14:38.beyond that. And the police were screaming to get away, they thought
:14:39. > :14:44.there was a bomb. So I turned round as quickly as I could. The ground
:14:45. > :14:51.was very slippery with what was left of some people. And I almost fell
:14:52. > :14:56.over. But I managed to turn around and head back up the promenade. And
:14:57. > :15:03.I saw some dreadful things. It was like a chamber of horrors. Every
:15:04. > :15:07.person seemed to have died in an increasingly grotesque way. And all
:15:08. > :15:13.that horror, mixed with the terror that Amanda had been caught up in
:15:14. > :15:18.it. Yes, I did not know if she was alive or dead. I tried ringing her
:15:19. > :15:24.but her phone was not switched on. It had no charge. It took about 20
:15:25. > :15:30.minutes before we were able to get to each other. And that was the
:15:31. > :15:36.longest 20 minutes of my life. I know you did not want to speak, but
:15:37. > :15:40.you had to cycle path this as well. Is it your firm belief that those
:15:41. > :15:44.brave policeman, if they had not had jumped in... If they had not done
:15:45. > :15:49.what they had done, when I arrived, I could see that there was almost an
:15:50. > :15:54.open road before this man. The reason he had come off the promenade
:15:55. > :15:57.is because there was a gazebo which had stopped his progress so he had
:15:58. > :16:01.veered onto the road. If he had not been stopped, she would have been
:16:02. > :16:06.into the major crowds. There were drips and drabs, he killed 84
:16:07. > :16:11.people, they were in dribs and drabs. If he had got into the
:16:12. > :16:16.hundreds of thousands, they could have all died. Were it not for them,
:16:17. > :16:21.this could have been... It is bad enough now, but it could have been
:16:22. > :16:27.in calculable Lee Westwood. A policeman -- it hack could have been
:16:28. > :16:32.so much worse. I hear a policewoman was involved, he/she jumped onto the
:16:33. > :16:36.cab. How do you -- she jumped onto the cab. How do you come to terms
:16:37. > :16:43.with it? The may be important thing is that my wife is safe, that is a
:16:44. > :16:47.big part. You are left wondering how you can call yourself a human being,
:16:48. > :16:55.how you can say you follow God, and do something like this. They do not
:16:56. > :17:00.match up. What was done here, families were aimed at, repeatedly.
:17:01. > :17:07.Children. I saw one lady with a double boy, who had died, she was
:17:08. > :17:13.just lying next to him, talking in his ear, very calmly. I saw other
:17:14. > :17:19.people who were hysterical. These were families which were broken
:17:20. > :17:25.apart in a split second. No mercy at all. He veered left and right to hit
:17:26. > :17:31.as many people as he could. When I was coming back, I saw lots of
:17:32. > :17:35.plastic shards, long pieces of plastic, and I could not work out
:17:36. > :17:38.what they were. And then I realised that these were the sea front
:17:39. > :17:44.benches that people had been hiding behind and he had moaned them down.
:17:45. > :17:50.-- he had mowed them down. It was horrific. I spoke to other
:17:51. > :17:53.eyewitnesses who said that people were running from the back streets
:17:54. > :18:01.and then running another way, another attack could have been other
:18:02. > :18:04.way. There were a lot of rumours, there was a rumour which spread
:18:05. > :18:08.quickly about how there could have been a bomb in the old quarter, I do
:18:09. > :18:12.not know anything about that, I only saw what was on the promenade. And
:18:13. > :18:21.when you walked through the door and saw Amanda? It was the best feeling
:18:22. > :18:26.in the world. She had also been worried about me so she didn't know
:18:27. > :18:30.if I was one of the people on the promenade and I did not know if she
:18:31. > :18:37.was once so it was wonderful. We are very grateful to be together. And I
:18:38. > :18:45.think that helps a lot. The things that were done here were inhuman.
:18:46. > :18:50.You are here on holiday? Yes. So you are passionate about France. We do
:18:51. > :18:54.like France, who come every year. It is more heartbreaking when you think
:18:55. > :19:01.about the country and what it is going through. It is. We have
:19:02. > :19:04.friends here, we have been coming here many years, we know the local
:19:05. > :19:11.shopkeeper and the concierge, they are all devastated. Everyone knows
:19:12. > :19:14.someone involved, whether they are in the emergency services, or their
:19:15. > :19:21.child was missing, one of the ladies in the apartment we are staying in
:19:22. > :19:26.has a young child in the hospital. Everybody has been affected. As you
:19:27. > :19:31.will see behind us, all of the beaches are closed as a mark of
:19:32. > :19:34.respect for the people that died. People are just walking around in a
:19:35. > :19:39.daze today. A lot of them were here last night. That's right. Certainly,
:19:40. > :19:43.I think I was one of the very few people he was travelling up and down
:19:44. > :19:48.in the immediate aftermath. But gradually people began to appear to
:19:49. > :19:53.try and help do what they could the people. I was desperately trying to
:19:54. > :19:57.find my wife, by the time I had found her, the promenade is being
:19:58. > :20:02.closed off. The emergency services were starting to arrive. There were
:20:03. > :20:07.some very brave people who tried to do what they could but I have to say
:20:08. > :20:12.that most of the people who were injured were beyond help. I think a
:20:13. > :20:18.very high proportion of those people hit were killed outright. If you do
:20:19. > :20:22.not when methane, you both seem to be in shock, is there somewhere you
:20:23. > :20:25.can go and people you can talk to, do you have family here? We have
:20:26. > :20:28.been speaking to our family regularly through the day, we
:20:29. > :20:33.obvious we have each other, so that has been a big kelp. Visit --
:20:34. > :20:39.obviously have each other, so that has been a big help. Thank you for
:20:40. > :20:44.talking to us, I know it has been upsetting, I hope you take great
:20:45. > :20:48.care of yourself. Simon and his wife Amanda, extraordinary, some of the
:20:49. > :20:54.eyewitness accounts. Let's talk about the attacks in France. There
:20:55. > :20:56.have Against a perfect Riviera backdrop,
:20:57. > :21:05.the grisly investigation has begun. French crime scene officers have
:21:06. > :21:07.been piecing together the final Named as Tunisian born
:21:08. > :21:15.Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, he is believed to have lived in this
:21:16. > :21:18.apartment building in Nice. Neighbours described his
:21:19. > :21:23.behaviour as odd. If we arrived at the building
:21:24. > :21:27.behind him, he would slam the door Investigators have seized anything
:21:28. > :21:34.that could throw a light on why Bouhlel committed such
:21:35. > :21:36.an abominable act. He was known by the police
:21:37. > :21:43.for violence and petty theft He was convicted in March
:21:44. > :21:51.and sentenced by the court But there was nothing to suggest any
:21:52. > :22:00.sign of radicalisation. Only yesterday, during
:22:01. > :22:03.the Bastille Day parade, it was expected that France's state
:22:04. > :22:07.of emergency would be ended. Now it has been extended and 10,000
:22:08. > :22:11.troops have been mobilised. France is clearly a top target
:22:12. > :22:16.for so-called Islamic State or IS. It has the largest number of foreign
:22:17. > :22:21.fighters in Syria and Iraq, and also, the leadership
:22:22. > :22:28.of Islamic State now includes two Frenchman who have nothing else
:22:29. > :22:34.as a desire but to hit France. Using lorries like this was a call
:22:35. > :22:41.made by IS two years ago. It has established a network
:22:42. > :22:43.of supporters in every The security service
:22:44. > :22:50.here and the police anti-terror command are working closely
:22:51. > :22:52.with the French They are looking to see
:22:53. > :22:58.if there is any investigation that could link the attacker
:22:59. > :23:01.in Nice with anybody here. The government is reviewing
:23:02. > :23:05.its safety procedures to reduce the chances of a similar attack
:23:06. > :23:15.succeeding here in Britain. Tonight, the instrument of so many
:23:16. > :23:18.people's death and injury has Can France's next terror
:23:19. > :23:31.attack be stopped? All of this is happening in the
:23:32. > :23:36.context of a presidential election which is just around the corner, a
:23:37. > :23:41.lot of soul-searching in France, French President Francois Hollande
:23:42. > :23:45.has been here today, the country is already in the state security but he
:23:46. > :23:51.is upping the anti-little bit, putting another 10,000 Army
:23:52. > :23:55.reservists on the streets, in Nice and around France, tightening the
:23:56. > :23:57.Borders and looking again at security and intelligence procedures
:23:58. > :23:59.to see if there is anything they could have done.
:24:00. > :24:01.Let's speak to Jacques Reland, a specialist in French
:24:02. > :24:03.politics and security policy at the Global Policy Institute.
:24:04. > :24:09.He joins us via webcam from Saint-Malo in Brittany.
:24:10. > :24:16.Good of you to join us. Let's talk first about the politics, because it
:24:17. > :24:18.is important. Some of the things we have heard from Francois Hollande
:24:19. > :24:23.today will have been said with one eye on what is going to be happening
:24:24. > :24:29.next year and the threat that he faces politically from Marine Le Pen
:24:30. > :24:34.and the National Front. Yes, indeed, and this time, unlike the other two
:24:35. > :24:41.the events, the Bataclan killings and the Charlie Hebdo killing, this
:24:42. > :24:45.time there was no national political unity. From early on this morning, a
:24:46. > :24:54.spokesman for the right started attacking the president. Saying,
:24:55. > :24:56.basing the attacks on the report released last week saying there were
:24:57. > :25:04.intelligence failures. What they have failed to see is that the
:25:05. > :25:13.intelligence failures resulted in a great part on the rear noticed that
:25:14. > :25:18.a reorganisation of the intelligence services under Nicolas Sarkozy. You
:25:19. > :25:25.feel that there is a political damage and this time, the
:25:26. > :25:30.President's reaction is mixed, and the leaders of the right have been
:25:31. > :25:39.very critical of Francois Hollande. The fate previous mayor of Nice,
:25:40. > :25:42.Nice, Christian Estrosi, who said that the president was refundable.
:25:43. > :25:47.Even though the profile of the attacker makes him someone who could
:25:48. > :25:58.not be suspected. It is someone who used to drink... I am afraid I have
:25:59. > :26:03.to interrupt you, I am very sorry, but we're out of time and we hope to
:26:04. > :26:05.to you some more. -- talk to you some more.