Many dead as lorry hits crowd in Nice

Media captionWitness Colin Srivastava: "Police said: Run, now"

A lorry has struck a crowd after Bastille Day celebrations in the southern French city of Nice, killing at least 75 people, officials are quoted as saying by local media.

It happened on the famous Promenade des Anglais after a firework display. The driver was "neutralised", and guns and grenades were found inside the lorry.

One image on Twitter showed about a dozen people lying on the street.

Officials said it was "an attack", asking local residents to stay indoors.

Many people were injured, some critically, in the incident on Thursday evening.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said that "a lorry driver appears to have killed dozens of people".

Prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre said the lorry drove two kilometres (1.2 miles) through a large crowd, the AFP news agency reports.

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The mayor and police urged residents to stay indoors.

Image copyrightTWITTER

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet denied earlier reports of hostage situations and said the driver of the lorry had been "neutralised".

He added that officials were investigating whether the driver acted alone.

French President Francois Hollande was returning back to Paris for crisis talks in the capital, his office said. Mr Hollande was in the southern city of Avignon on a private visit.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was on his way to Nice.

Media captionRoy Calley, BBC: "All hell has broken loose in Nice"

Media captionGrace-Ann Morrow, eyewitness: "It was complete chaos"

Some reports spoke of shots being exchanged between police and the occupants of the lorry but these have not been confirmed.

Social media video showed people running through the streets in panic following the incident.

A journalist with the Nice Matin newspaper reported from the scene that there was "a lot of blood and without doubt many injured".

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionPolice have inspected the lorry that hit the crowds. What appear to be bullet holes are seen on the windscreen

Image captionSocial media video showed people fleeing after the incident

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionA number of injured people were taken to local hospitals

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionTerrified residents were in state of shock

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionPolice are now carrying out checks on vehicles in Nice

An AFP reporter said the incident took place as the firework display was ending, adding: "We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around."

Another image on Twitter showed a white lorry stopped in the middle of the promenade with damage to its front, and four police officers observing it while taking cover behind a palm tree.

One eyewitness told BFM TV: "Everyone was calling run, run, run there's an attack run, run, run. We heard some shots. We thought they were fireworks because it's the 14th of July.

"There was great panic. We were running too because we didn't want to stick around and we went into a hotel to get to safety. "

Another witness, Roy Calley told the BBC that there were "thousands of people on the promenade" when the incident happened.

US President Barack Obama condemned "in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice", the White House said.

The president had been briefed about the situation "and his national security team will update him, as appropriate", National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.