At least 80 dead, scores injured after truck hits crowd in Nice, France
佛니스 해변 군중에 트럭돌진 테러…'최소 73명사망•100명부상'
We begin with the attack on a popular vacation spot in the south of
France, where thousands were gathered to celebrate
Bastille Day.
A truck plowed through a waterfront and hit the crowd killing at least 80 people.
Let's get further details from our Hwang Hojun at the
News Center.
Ho-jun, what do we know so far?
Mark, at least 80 people have been killed and more than one hundred have been injured, and the death toll is still rising.
According to the
South Korea's foreign ministry, the
Korean government is investigating to confirm if any
Korean nationals were caught up in the attack.
However, they've been unable to contact five
Koreans in France as of 10 a.m.
As you mentioned, thousands of people were gathered at the main promenade in
Nice, enjoying the fireworks and music.
Then, gunshots,
... and a white truck literally mowed people down while accelerating for a distance of about two kilometers.
Eye witnesses say the truck was moving at a speed of between 25 to 50 kilometers per hour.
The truck finally stopped when police shot out the windscreen and killed the attacker.
Now there's another deeply disturbing aspect to this dreadful attack.
We are hearing that local authorities found an arsenal of weapons inside the truck, including firearms, grenades and explosives.
Which is why news agencies say this attack could have been even worse.
If those weapons had been used, too,... the death toll could have potentially run into the hundreds or thousands.
French President Francois Hollande, who was in
Mongolia for the
ASEM summit meeting, flew back to
Paris for crisis talks.
He spoke in a national television address less than an hour ago.
He said there's no denying the "terrorist nature" of the attack and swore that nothing will stop France's fight against terrorism.
He also extended by three months... the state of emergency in France that has been in place since the
Paris attack last year.
Ho-jun, this happened while the world is still reeling from the shocks of a series of terror attacks during the Ramadan period. Any details on whether this was linked to a terror group?
Well, identity documents belonging to a 31-year-old
French Tunisian man from Nice were found in the truck.
Authorities are investigating to see if they match the body found in the vehicle.
No claim of responsibility has been made by a terrorist organization.
But there are plenty of hints pointing to
Islamic extremist groups such as
ISIS.
As a matter of fact, ISIS supporters erupted in celebration on social media as news of the attack started to filter through.
Also, the south of France, a very popular holiday spot for people around the world, has a sizable population of extremists who are believed to have traveled to and from
Syria and
Iraq.
Although a massacre by a single vehicle is unprecedented, ISIS has encouraged its followers to use such tactics before.
Given the sheer scale of carnage and the discovery of sophisticated weaponry, experts are saying it's highly likely the attack was pre-planned and organized.
They say it would be difficult for an individual with no direct links to terror groups to have such an arsenal of weapons, especially in
Europe, which is why experts are saying,... that rather than this being a so-called "lone wolf" attack,... there must've been a network pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Mark.
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