Travel community responds to attack in Nice, France

French President Francois Hollande has called the attack in the resort town of Nice a “terrorist” assault and vowed to continue fighting extremists.

At least 84 people are dead after a Frenchman of Tunisian decent drove a truck through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day along Nice’s beachfront promenade yesterday (July 14), reports say.

The attack, which reportedly claimed the lives of 10 children, ended after police killed the assailant in a round of gunfire.

Amateur video shot by terrified onlookers depicts crowds of people fleeing the scene in panic, jumping off the promenade’s elevated sidewalk and onto the beach below.

“France is mourning, it is afflicted, but it is strong, and will always be stronger, I assure you, than the fanatics that want to strike it today,” President Hollande said in a public address following the attack.

France President Francois Hollande

The gruesome assault left many critically injured and sent hundreds to hospital, where many remain this morning –including 18 fighting for their lives in intensive care, the Telegraph reports.

The truck that plowed through the crowd was reportedly carrying grenades and other weapons.

Wassim Bouhlel, a native of Nice, told The Associated Press (AP) he saw a truck drive into the crowd, then its driver emerged with a gun and started shooting.

“There was carnage on the road. Bodies everywhere,” Bouhlel told AP.

Details about the attacker are now unfolding. According to a report published by the Telegraph this morning, the man was a “loner” with a criminal history who “became depressed” when his wife left him.

French leaders extended the country's nine-month-old state of emergency yesterday, in addition to President Hollande unveiling new security measures, including calling upon the army reserves as well as the continuation of Operation Sentinel, a mobilization of 10,000 armed forces on the streets of the country.

Canada’s 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.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) expressed its “shock and sadness” towards the horrific incident in a press release issued this morning.

“France is the natural home of international tourism - the most visited destination in the world. With this attack on its day of national celebration of the principles of liberty, equality, and brotherhood - the same principles championed by travel & tourism - our sector stands in unity with the people of Nice and France,” David Scowsill, president and CEO of WTTC stated in the release.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) echoed those sentiments, expressing “full solidarity with the people and the Government of France,” UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, stated in release.

Yesterday’s horrific events in Nice adds to a growing timeline of terrorist attacks that have plagued France in recent years, such as an attack in November 2015 where gunmen opened fire at a concert hall, and at popular eateries in central Paris, killing more than 100.

That incident came months after January 2015’s Charlie Hebdo massacre, where masked gun-toting brothers stormed the offices of the satirical French newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, and killed 12 workers, including the paper’s editor-in-chief, writers and cartoonists.