Nice terror attack: Witnesses describe 'children dead with their parents and toys next to them'

'There was screaming, running around and people were kind of being pushed over, I think, from people just being so frightened about what was going on,' witness says

Survivors of the attack in Nice have described bodies being sent "flying like bowling pins", leaving the road strewn with "streaks of blood".

Local journalist Damien Allemand, who was at the waterside, said the fireworks display had just finished in the French coastal resort and the crowd had got up to leave when they heard a noise and cries.

“A fraction of a second later, an enormous white truck came along at a crazy speed, turning the wheel to mow down the maximum number of people,” he said.

“I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget.”

Wassim Bouhel, a local resident, posted a status on Facebook describing what he had seen. It read: “CARNAGE IN NICE, I was there.

“Children dead with their parents and their toys next to them. Pieces of flesh, brains and streaks of blood. That strong odor...

“Some stopped to cry and others pass by emotionless. Bodies lay under sheets [...]. I saw what no one should see. The first victim was an old Muslim man [...].

“Some took photos and videos. One man knelt by the body of his wife and child. What a shame, a dishonour for our religion.”

Briton Will Shaw told BBC Radio 4: “It was quite chaotic really.

"There was a lot of people screaming, running around and people were kind of being pushed over, I think, from people just being so frightened about what was going on especially after hearing the gunshots.

"I had to help a couple of people up who were in distress on the floor because everyone was in such a panic.''

Amina Ivlev, from Moscow. uploaded a video to her Instagram account following the incident.

“Tomorrow it will be all over the news, but let me tell you what I saw today," she said in Russian.

“Today, France has been celebrating Bastille Day and the French people will remember this day for a very long time because everyone who was out on the street celebrating the holiday stood and witnessed a lorry driving into people and people getting shot.

“I was about 10 metres away and these images will stay with me until the end of my life. I will never again go out into a crowd like that.

"I will just sit at home and be haunted by this. Tomorrow we’ll know how many dead there will be… enough.”

Kevin Harris watched the attack unfold from his balcony.

He told the BBC: “I saw what appeared to be be bodies in the lying in the road.

“I spoke to my neighbour who said the lorry had ploughed through the people.

“It's a terrible scene.”

Another eyewitness said there was no security when the lorry began ploughing into crowds.

“There was no security and it took firefighters close to half an hour to arrive on the scene,” the man told Euronews.

“The truck was there on the promenade and then they shot the driver. The truck mounted the curb, accelerating into the crowd as it ran over everyone on its way.”