30 Confirmed Dead After Van Rams Into Crowd In France

Thirty people have been killed while several were injured after a van rammed into a crowd marking Bastille Day in the French Riviera resort on Thursday.

Security forces and ambulances raced to the scene, and authorities from the local Alpes-Maritimes prefecture urged residents to stay indoors.

An AFP reporter described seeing a white van driving at high speed onto the famed Promenade des Anglais as people were leaving after the annual Bastille Day celebration display.

“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around,” he said, adding that the incident took place near the city’s famed Hotel Negresco.

Terrified pedestrians screamed as they fled the area. “It was absolute chaos,” he said.

A huge security cordon was established closing off the central Place Massena by 2330 GMT, another AFP correspondent said.

Police officers and rescued workers stand near a van that ploughed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice on July 14, 2016. The mayor of the French city of Nice said dozens of people were likely killed after a van rammed into a crowd marking Bastille Day in the French Riviera resort today and urged residents to stay indoors.