Estonian in Nice: Promenade is closed, tourists are leaving

Photo: SCANPIX

The seaside of Nice, the French city struck by a deadly terrorist attack on Thursday night, has been emptied of people and many tourists are heading towards the airport, an Estonian man told BNS from the Mediterranean resort.

«There's less traffic and tourists leaving the city for the airport were shown on TV. The whole promenade [Promenade des Anglais] is cordoned off, no one can get near it at the moment,» said the man who is in Nice on business.

Describing the late-night attack, the man who asked not to be named said that the crowd watching a fireworks display did initially not realize there was shooting and an attack was taking place. Then panic started and people began to run towards the Colline du Chateau.

He said he had been watching the fireworks from the beach and did not see the truck that plowed into the crowd but could recall hearing shots. The group he was with learned from police officers they met when making their way out of the area that there had been an attack.

An unidentified armed man on Thursday night barrelled a 19-ton truck two kilometers through a crowd on Promenade des Anglais in Nice that had been enjoying a fireworks display for France's national day before being shot dead by police. The attack left 84 dead and another 18 in a «critical condition», interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said on Friday.