(AP) -
The Paris prosecutor says 202 people were wounded
in the Nice truck attack, with 25 on life support and 52 in critical
condition.
84 people were killed, including 2 Americans, a 51-year-old man and his 11-year-old son from Texas.
*********************************
AUSTIN,
Texas (AP) -- Relatives say a father and son from the Austin area are
among the victims of the deadly truck attack in Nice.
Family
friend Jess Davis says 51-year-old Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son
Brodie were killed Thursday evening in what French authorities have
described as a terror attack.
Davis released a statement Friday on behalf of the Copeland family, saying they are "heartbroken and in shock."
State Department spokesman John Kirby said earlier that two Americans were killed, but didn't identify them citing privacy.
Davis
says the Copelands, from Lakeway, were on a European vacation that
began in Spain. They were celebrating Bastille Day in Nice.
The
statement says Sean Copeland is "a wonderful husband and father" and
Brodie is "an amazing son and brother who lit up our lives."
*********************************
UPDATE: The State Department says 2 Americans were among those killed in the Bastille Day attack in France.
*********************************
A
truck plowed into pedestrians during Bastille Day celebrations in the
popular French seaside city of Nice Thursday, leaving more than 80
people dead in what the nation's president called "obviously a terrorist
attack."
The deadly toll, which included several children, came
after the truck slammed into revelers gathered on a promenade to watch
fireworks, French President Francois Hollande said in an address Friday
morning.
"Such a monstrosity," Hollande said. He pledged to step
up efforts to fight terror in Iraq and Syria, and extended a state of
emergency for three months.
"France is deeply saddened, but it is
also very strong," Hollande said. "I can assure you we will always be
stronger than the fanatics who are trying to attack us."
The
driver was killed by police, Hollande said. It is unknown if there were
accomplices, Hollande said. French media, citing a police source,
reported that ID papers belonging to a French-Tunisian were found in the
truck. A source told NBC News the driver is believed to have been a
French national of Tunisian descent
The truck struck the crowd at
around 10:40 p.m. local time (4:40 p.m. ET) shortly after a fireworks
display, officials and witnesses said.
Christian Estrosi,
president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region that includes Nice,
told French media that the driver also shot at people. A senior U.S.
military official told NBC News that guns and explosives were found in
the truck.
Eyewitness Andrew Botros described the scene as a "white truck literally racing through crowds of all ages."
At
the time of Hollande's address, 77 people were confirmed dead. A short
time later, the French interior minister said the death toll had risen
to 80, and 18 others were in critical condition.
U.S. President
Barack Obama earlier condemned what he called "what appears to be a
horrific terrorist attack" and said the U.S. has offered any assistance
France may need. "We stand in solidarity and partnership with France,
our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack."
Witnesses described scenes of chaos after the truck hit the crowd.
"I
looked up and saw, like, a tsunami wave of people just running towards
me as fast as they possibly could screaming at the top of their lungs,"
Dr. Kevin Motamedi, a Denver physician on a tour of Europe, told NBC
News. "And I just grabbed who I was with and started running as fast as
possible. It was basically just complete mass hysteria."
"It was
the scariest moment of my life, easily," Motamedi said. "As we were
running, you could tell the people in front of us had no idea that
anything was going on, so we were running and grabbing people saying,
'Run. Go home!'"
Eric Dratell, an American lawyer working in
London, is in Nice on vacation with his wife. They were having dinner at
Le Sporting on the beach when his wife heard what she thought was
gunfire.
"We started running for cover. People started jumping
from promenade level onto the beach," Dratell told NBC News. "A guy
jumped on my wife," who was injured, he said.
"We took shelter
with 200 or more people in an area under the promenade. People were in
crowded toilet stalls," Dratell said. "This is shocking," he said.
In
the immediate aftermath of the crash, Estrosi, who is also Nice's
former mayor, tweeted in French: "Dear Nicois, the driver of a truck
appears to have made a dozens of deaths. For the moment, stay in your
home. More info to come."
France has been on edge since a series
of coordinated terror attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people
dead. The terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.
There
were no immediate claims of responsibility by ISIS through its official
or unofficial channels, according to Flashpoint Intelligence, an
international terrorism research organization.
Hollande said he
will be calling up operational reserves to help police, and the nation
was placed at high alert. He said the country's military campaign
against the terror group ISIS in Iraq and Syria would increase.
"Nothing will shake us and make us renounce the fight against terrorism," Hollande said.
France's
ambassador to the U.S., Gérard Araud, said on Twitter: "Again. Sadness.
These people only wanted to enjoy Bastille day fireworks with their
family and friends. Sadness."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau said: "Canadians are shocked by tonight's attack in Nice. Our
sympathy is with the victims, and our solidarity with the French
people."
Nice is a city on France's Mediterranean coast popular
with tourists. The U.S. State Department said it has no Thursday evening
it had no information that any Americans were killed or injured.
Bastille Day, also known as National Day, commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison during the French revolution in 1789.
"On
this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and
democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire
world, and we know that the character of the French Republic will endure
long after this devastating and tragic loss of life," Obama said.
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