Hollande: Foreigners from every continent, many children among Nice victims
Speaking after visiting hospitals in terror-hit resort town, French president says at least 50 of the wounded hang 'between life and death'
French President Francois Hollande said Friday that “many foreigners and young children” were among those killed or injured after the truck attack on a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, with around 50 fighting for their lives.
“There are French among the victims and also many foreigners from every continent and many children, young children,” said a clearly moved Hollande in a speech from a hospital in the French Riviera city.
“As I speak 84 people are dead, and around 50 are in a critical condition between life and death,” he added.
Ten children were among those killed, when Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old delivery driver, plowed through a crowd watching fireworks to mark Bastille Day on Nice’s seafront promenade.
Bouhlel was known to local police and had a criminal record, including armed attacks. Born in Tunisia, he was described by witnesses to police as a “weird loner” who had “become depressed” after his wife left him.
Some of Bouhlel’s neighbors interviewed by Agence France Presse portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not even return greetings when their paths crossed in the four-story block, located in a working-class neighborhood of Nice.
Sebastien, a neighbor who spoke on condition that his full name was not used, said Bouhlel did not seem overtly religious, often dressed in shorts and sometimes wore work boots.
He had a van parked nearby and owned a bike, which he brought up into his first-floor apartment.
Of those who were interviewed, only one, a neighbor on the ground floor, said she had had any concerns about him — he was “a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye.”
On Friday afternoon, the city’s airport briefly closed and passengers were evacuated. It was reopened within less than 30 minutes.
