Dozens of Aussies, many of them students, have been caught up in the Nice attack
AUSTRALIAN Marcus Freeman told The Project he and his wife ran to their hotel room for shelter when the Nice attack unfolded.
TWO young Australians remain in stable condition in hospital in Nice following the truck attack.
Five Australians in total were injured but only two, a man and a woman aged 22, remain in hospital.
French authorities confirmed the injuries were not life threatening, one with fractures and the other a little more serious wounds as a direct result of the truck attack.
They said all patients had been psychologically affected by events, counsellors were being made available. All five were from the same bus tour group.
“The injuries of the two who will remain in hospital are of course serious but not life threatening, both satisfactory,” French authorities said.
It is understood an official from the Australian embassy in Paris had been dispatched to Nice to render assistance.
Australian Marcus Freeman told The Project he and his wife ran to their hotel room for shelter when the Nice truck attack unfolded.
“Then we hear gunshots and it was pretty terrifying. There was literally an avalanche of people, just took off. We didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
“People were just running for their lives. Including ourselves. We were running towards our hotel room. Not knowing if there was a gunman behind us with a machine gun or what was going on. So we just ran. My thought was to go straight to the lift, press the button as quickly as we could. Probably the longest minute in my life, not knowing if someone will come through the glass door and shoot everything up. Just... Unbelievable.”
He said it was “total chaos. Absolute chaos”.
“We just basically bunkered down in the hotel for the entire night. I haven’t had any sleep whatsoever. I was just downstairs, just before, probably about 20 minutes ago I stepped outside for the first time.
“There is just absolutely... It is just quiet. A very sad day.
“For it to go to sort of - from heaven to hell... Within a second... It is just remarkable.
“I just cannot believe it. The people, the French people, knew what was going on before I knew what was going on. We tend to think, ‘The car backfired’, or someone had let off a firework. No. They knew exactly what was going on and they were running. Hysterically for their life. They thought - they are going to get a bullet from somewhere. It was... It was harrowing. I have never experienced anything like it, ever.
“And just that moment of just standing there at that lift, with all these people, and looking at the glass door, not knowing if there is a walkman - gunman walking down the street with a machine gun, we didn’t know.
The couple is going to meet their daughter in Paris.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed that Australians were injured in the Nice truck attack that killed at least 80 people.
Ms Bishop gave no further details of those hurt but it has been reported that one is an Australian teenager who has been hospitalised with a leg wound.
Another is believed to be a woman on a Topdeck tour who is expected to recover fully, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Topdeck global general manager Sarah Clark confirmed one of the organisation’s customers had been injured.
“We are extremely saddened at the tragic event which has unfolded in Nice this morning and our thoughts are with those who have been affected,” she told the Telegraph
“As of 02.30 local time, all of our customers are safe and accounted for. Unfortunately one of our customers has reported some minor injuries. They are with Topdeck staff and are currently being tended to in hospital.
“Our family liaison team has been in direct contact with the injured customer’s family and we are ensuring the best care possible.”
Aussie Marcus Freeman captured the moment before a weapon-laden truck ploughed into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day.
Mr Freeman posted a series of photographs to Facebook showing packed streets in the resort city just before the attack.
“My internet is sketchy, but devastating to see that over 70 people were killed and the truck was full of guns. (We are currently in lockdown and safe.),” Mr Freeman wrote.
“The photos below were not long before we were all running for our lives. Words cannot describe the fear ... we collected 10 x people from the street and brought them into our hotel.
“Very sad and cannot believe this has happened ... I commented earlier in the night how everyone was so happy and well behaved ... such a great feel to the place. Words cannot describe this tragedy!”
At least 80 people, many of them children, have been confirmed dead in the attack and more than 100 — including three Australians — have been injured.
Earlier, a young Australian student caught up in the Nice attack described how chaos broke out after a truck ploughed into the crowd, killing at least 70 people.
Rhys Lawry, a 23-year-old web developer, is one of 27 Australian students attending the 2016 European Innovation Academy in Nice, France.
Twenty are from Melbourne, including four representing the University of Melbourne, and at least two are from Sydney.
The attack in the southern French city interrupted Bastille Day celebrations, with a spokesman for France’s Interior Ministry saying “it’s going to be a very high toll”.
“We were there on the beach watching the fireworks and then suddenly everyone started running and there was a massive stampede,” Mr Lawry told News.com.au
“We heard the screams, people screaming and everyone was running in one direction. We thought we’d better start running too and it just got faster and faster and you’ve just got this panic.
“There were just hundreds of people running and it became a massive stampede. The cops were yelling, ‘Run! Run! Keep going!’
“I tried to film the stampede but it just got too much. I’m back at my residence now and I’ve got a couple of students from the University of Berkeley who are going to stay here rather than try and make their way back to their residences.
“We have heard the cafes and restaurants are taking people in from the streets and locking the doors and taxi drivers are driving people around for free.
“I just can’t believe it’s happened here. I mean, Nice is such a sleepy, tourist town. You would never think anything like that could happen here. My mum was worried about me coming, about something like this happening.”
The group of 22 Aussies are among 400 students from around the world in Nice to take part in the program. Mr Lawry said organisers were frantically trying to track down all the attendees and had learned that four students had been injured — none of them Australian.
Mr Lawry said he was trying to track down everybody in his group to make sure they were safe.
The Australian students he personally knows are safe are Tejas Cherukara, Shazia Ruybal, Nicholas Moignard and Dan Schwartz.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Australian Bridget de Jong has told of seeing “bodies on the street”.
“We saw people running towards us along the promenade saying don’t go back there, there’s been an accident, there’s been a shooting,” the terrified Sydneysider told the Today Show.
“There are people everywhere and there’s lots of ambulance, police officers, army. We’ve seen a few sort of bodies along the street.
“They’ve set up a temporary hospitals in a nightclub and the police have arrived to barricade everything off.”
Ms de Jong said her and her friend were unable to get back to their hotel.
“We knocked on a restaurant door and they wouldn’t let us in. So, right now my friend and I, we’re sort of huddled in a side street.”
Australian journalist Emily Watkins said she was less than 50 metres away from the incident and saw the truck on the promenade but did not realise what was happening.
“There was a lot of confusion. I don’t actually remember seeing the truck moving,” she told the ABC.
“There was a lot of screams coming from ahead of us where the truck was, and people just running towards us and without really knowing what was going on we turned and ran as well.
“As we were running away we could hear what I thought at the time were more flares or fireworks.
“People were tripping over and trying to get into hotel lobbies and restaurants or car parks or anywhere they could to get away from the street.”
Ms Watkins’ partner David Cody, an ABC producer, said: “People were tripping over in the commotion, there was a lot of panic.
“People were trying to get into hotels, any businesses that were open, trying to take shelter, because it was unclear what was happening.
“With each bang that we heard behind us, people perhaps started to go a bit faster, people were tripping over, it was a very chaotic scene.” Earlier in the evening, as the crowds enjoyed the fireworks, lightning had flashed in the skies above the Riviera resort.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has released a statement saying it is working to track down Australians in Nice.
“The Australian Embassy in Paris is making urgent enquiries to determine whether any Australians have been affected by the incident at the Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France,” the statement said.
“If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the region you should attempt to contact them directly.”
Australians worried about the welfare of loved ones in Nice can call DFAT’s 24 hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 or +61 2 6261 3305 if calling from overseas.
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