‘Terror in their faces:’ Toronto man describes Nice attack

Toronto man Ramiro Mora who was visiting Nice, France, with his wife says the horrific attack on the promenade was “an attack on families.”

Hundreds of people and their families had gathered for Bastille Day fireworks on the Promenade des Anglais when a man drove a truck onto a sidewalk and plowed through a crowd, killing 84 people and injuring several others.

Two French police officials said identity papers found alongside the attacker belonged to a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian descent with previous misdemeanour convictions but no known link to extremist groups.

French officials said the truck plowed into the crowd over a distance of two kilometres near Nice’s Palais de la Mediterranee, a building that fronts the beach.

Canada’s ambassador to France, Lawrence Cannon, tweeted early Friday that there are “no Canadians reported among casualties to date” and thanked French authorities for their co-operation.

Mora, who spoke with Breakfast Television on Friday morning, recalled seeing hundreds of people sprint up the narrow streets away from the promenade, just moments after they left the crowds of families enjoying the Bastille Day fireworks.

“We just heard the screams,” he said. “Everyone was just running as fast as they could, and all you could see was terror in their faces.”

Mora was in France for the Nice Jazz Festival. It was supposed to start on Saturday but has now been cancelled.

Montreal teacher Heloise Landry, another Canadian who is visiting the city, said she narrowly escaped being hit by the truck.

She told The Canadian Press she was watching the Bastille Day festivities when she ducked indoors because of the cool weather, then heard panicked screams and “there was blood everywhere.”

Landry said she has crossed the street where the truck had passed just two minutes earlier.

“I wondered how it was that we were still alive,” she said.

Once the initial shock had passed, Landry said she quickly assured her family that both she and her 16-year-old daughter were unharmed.

Canadian residents were also starting to mark the safe option on Facebook’s “Safety Check.”

Alex Mitchell, who lives in Kingston, Ont., wrote in an email that he and his family are staying in an apartment a few blocks from the scene.

He said they were already back from watching the fireworks when the news broke.

“What Val [my wife] and I keep thinking about is all the families and children we saw tonight – and there were so many,” he said. “To think that such a wonderful event could be turned into something so horrible makes us both sick. We’re just not sure what to tell our kids.”

A group of high school students from Nanaimo, B.C., was also reported “safe and accounted for” in posts on Facebook and Twitter by their school district.

Doug White, a councillor with the Snuneymuxw First Nation, wrote on his Facebook page that his niece was on the trip.

“I can’t take the stress – my niece Isabella texted me to tell me she and her friend ran across Nice to get away from the horrible Bastille Day attack in Nice, France to get to the home they are staying at…” he posted. “She is OK and all the kids from Nanaimo that are over there are OK – thank god!”

Another man Aman Cheema simply tweeted the hastag “Canada” and “Hey guys me and my wife are safe, we were just two blocks away from the attack.”

Images being broadcast across French media showed people running for their lives down Promenade des Anglais, the famous seaside boulevard named for the English aristocrats who proposed its construction in the 19th century.

Canadians looking for updates on family members and friends in Nice who may have been affected can call Global Affairs Canada’s 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre at 613-996-8885 and 1-800-387-3124, or email sos@international.gc.ca.

Meanwhile, Canadians and their political leaders have joined the rest of the world in expressing shock and outrage over the attack.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Canada’s support for France.

“Our sympathy is with the victims, and our solidarity with the French people,” he wrote.

Trudeau added in a statement that Canada has offered “all possible assistance to the French government.”

“Senseless acts like this one are not isolated events, and we will continue to work with our Allies and partners to fight terrorism in all of its forms.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion also issued a statement saying Canada condemns this “horrific terrorist attack.”

“We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed and a speedy recovery to those injured. Canadians are deeply saddened by this tragedy and we stand in solidarity with the people of France on their national day.”

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark earlier tweeted that the incident is “just horrible” and that she was thinking of “all those involved and their families.”

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said “all Albertans are heartbroken for the families of those killed and injured in tonight’s senseless attack in Nice.”

Federal Opposition leader Rona Ambrose and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair also expressed their shock as did former prime minister Stephen Harper.

“The people of France are in our thoughts this evening, following the terrorist attack. I pray for the victims and their families,” Harper tweeted.

With files from Tamsyn Burgmann in Vancouver, Lori Paris and The Associated Press