More people who were near the seafront in Nice have been getting in touch with their accounts of last night’s events.
Sajda was with her husband Tosif and her cousin Anas, and described the mood as jovial and upbeat. “There were people hanging out at the beach lighting up their own fireworks, vendors were selling crepes with Nutella, music was playing, and everyone was just having a good time,” she said.
“After being there for a little over 10 minutes, we heard what sounded like fireworks going off and then heard screaming. All of a sudden, there were hundreds of panic-stricken people running our way and it was clear that if we did not move, we would get trampled. So we started running as fast as we could while having no idea what was going on.
“I remember nearly falling while trying to head down the stairs to the beach so I just grabbed onto a random person and let him help me down. As we ran down the beach, people were yelling out “qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?” (what happened?) and others running with us responded with “There is a man with a gun” or “The police told us to run.” We still had no idea what was happening but just ran for our lives. I became absolutely terrified for my life.
“Although we were only a 15 minute walk away from where we live, we decided to take a circular route away from the busy streets so it took us over an hour to get home. It was frightening to learn how close we were to losing our lives. If we had decided to head east when we arrived to the promenade instead of west, I might not be here today.”
Gary and his girlfriend travelled to Nice especially for Bastille Day. “We were sat on the beach after the fireworks had finished, so whilst we didn’t physically see it, we were about 50 metres away from it,” he said. “We’ve never seen panic like it – the videos do not show the huge number of people running across the beach. People were confused and as soon as gunshots were heard everyone ran.”
“We ran down the beach and went up on to the promenade. As soon as one person started running hundreds followed, even if it was nothing. It wasn’t just the initial panic, but the panic afterwards when we were making our way home that was terrifying – it felt like there was nowhere safe and we were surrounded.
“It needs to be stressed that this day was for families – we sat next to a large family with about seven or eight children. They left literally two minutes before the problems started – I pray to god that they’re safe.
Sajda was with her husband Tosif and her cousin Anas, and described the mood as jovial and upbeat. “There were people hanging out at the beach lighting up their own fireworks, vendors were selling crepes with Nutella, music was playing, and everyone was just having a good time,” she said.
“After being there for a little over 10 minutes, we heard what sounded like fireworks going off and then heard screaming. All of a sudden, there were hundreds of panic-stricken people running our way and it was clear that if we did not move, we would get trampled. So we started running as fast as we could while having no idea what was going on.
“I remember nearly falling while trying to head down the stairs to the beach so I just grabbed onto a random person and let him help me down. As we ran down the beach, people were yelling out “qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?” (what happened?) and others running with us responded with “There is a man with a gun” or “The police told us to run.” We still had no idea what was happening but just ran for our lives. I became absolutely terrified for my life.
“Although we were only a 15 minute walk away from where we live, we decided to take a circular route away from the busy streets so it took us over an hour to get home. It was frightening to learn how close we were to losing our lives. If we had decided to head east when we arrived to the promenade instead of west, I might not be here today.”
Gary and his girlfriend travelled to Nice especially for Bastille Day. “We were sat on the beach after the fireworks had finished, so whilst we didn’t physically see it, we were about 50 metres away from it,” he said. “We’ve never seen panic like it – the videos do not show the huge number of people running across the beach. People were confused and as soon as gunshots were heard everyone ran.”
“We ran down the beach and went up on to the promenade. As soon as one person started running hundreds followed, even if it was nothing. It wasn’t just the initial panic, but the panic afterwards when we were making our way home that was terrifying – it felt like there was nowhere safe and we were surrounded.
“It needs to be stressed that this day was for families – we sat next to a large family with about seven or eight children. They left literally two minutes before the problems started – I pray to god that they’re safe.
