Nice attack: Hero stopped killer's rampage by leaping into lorry and wrestling with him
The man's murderous rampage could have lasted far longer and taken many more lives without the intervention of a member of the public, sources said
A man slowed the murderous rampage of a man driving a truck through a crowd in Nice by jumping into the cab and seizing his revolver.
The attacker, 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was slowed when a heroic member of the public leapt onto the vehicle and wrestled the driver.
Police sources in Nice confirmed that the murderous two kilometre charge of the lorry might have been even longer if it had not been for the courage of a member of the public.
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack
Show all 30
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack
1/30
A man reacts near bouquets of flowers near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday in Nice
Reuters
2/30
A woman arrives with a toy and a bouquet of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd in Nice
Reuters
3/30
A woman reacts as she places flowers in front of the memorial set on the 'Promenade des Anglais' where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice
EPA
4/30
People gather to view the floral tributes near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
5/30
A man reacts near bouquets of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice
Reuters
6/30
Floral tributes are laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
7/30
A child's toy is placed among the floral tributes laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
8/30
Investigators continue at the scene near the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores who were celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice
Reuters
9/30
Crime scene investigators work on the 'Promenade des Anglais' after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice
EPA
10/30
A forensic expert examines dead bodies covered with a blue sheet on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice
Getty Images
11/30
A forensic expert evacuates a dead body on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice, after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day
Getty Images
12/30
A man reacts as he sits near a French flag along the beachfront the day after a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice
Reuters
13/30
Discarded items are left on the beach, not far from the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
14/30
Bullet holes in the windscreen of the lorry that was driven into the crowd at high speed
Reuters
15/30
A man walks through debris on the street in Nice, France, the morning after a lorry ran into a crowd, killing at least 84 and injuring 50
Reuters
16/30
Rescue workers help an injured woman to get in a ambulance
AFP/Getty Images
17/30
Authorities investigate a truck after it plowed through Bastille Day revelers in the French resort city of Nice, France
AP
18/30
Celebrations of Bastille Day were targeted by the lorry driver
AP
19/30
People cross the street with their hands on thier heads as a French soldier secures the area after at least 84 people were killed along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice
Reuters
20/30
A paramedic attends one of the dozens of people injured in the Nice Bastille Day attack
21/30
Soldiers march on street where the lorry crashed into the crowd
REUTERS
22/30
A man sits next to a body seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday
Reuters
23/30
Bodies are seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday
Reuters
24/30
Children were among the 84 killed in the atrocity, with around 50 more hospitalised
Reuters
25/30
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd L) speaks to the media in Nice
AFP/Getty Images
26/30
A man walks with his hands up as police officers carry out checks on people in the centre of French Riviera town of Nice
AFP/Getty Images
27/30
With injured people laying in the street police and onlookers react near to a truck in Nice
AP
28/30
Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of the attack
AFP/Getty Images
29/30
Police officers speak with a soldier after a truck that ploughed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice
AFP/Getty Images
30/30
Police shine a light into the cab as they approach the driver's cab of a truck, in Nice
AP
1/30
A man reacts near bouquets of flowers near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday in Nice
Reuters
2/30
A woman arrives with a toy and a bouquet of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd in Nice
Reuters
3/30
A woman reacts as she places flowers in front of the memorial set on the 'Promenade des Anglais' where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice
EPA
4/30
People gather to view the floral tributes near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
5/30
A man reacts near bouquets of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice
Reuters
6/30
Floral tributes are laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
7/30
A child's toy is placed among the floral tributes laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
8/30
Investigators continue at the scene near the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores who were celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice
Reuters
9/30
Crime scene investigators work on the 'Promenade des Anglais' after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice
EPA
10/30
A forensic expert examines dead bodies covered with a blue sheet on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice
Getty Images
11/30
A forensic expert evacuates a dead body on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice, after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day
Getty Images
12/30
A man reacts as he sits near a French flag along the beachfront the day after a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice
Reuters
13/30
Discarded items are left on the beach, not far from the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
AP
14/30
Bullet holes in the windscreen of the lorry that was driven into the crowd at high speed
Reuters
15/30
A man walks through debris on the street in Nice, France, the morning after a lorry ran into a crowd, killing at least 84 and injuring 50
Reuters
16/30
Rescue workers help an injured woman to get in a ambulance
AFP/Getty Images
17/30
Authorities investigate a truck after it plowed through Bastille Day revelers in the French resort city of Nice, France
AP
18/30
Celebrations of Bastille Day were targeted by the lorry driver
AP
19/30
People cross the street with their hands on thier heads as a French soldier secures the area after at least 84 people were killed along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice
Reuters
20/30
A paramedic attends one of the dozens of people injured in the Nice Bastille Day attack
21/30
Soldiers march on street where the lorry crashed into the crowd
REUTERS
22/30
A man sits next to a body seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday
Reuters
23/30
Bodies are seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday
Reuters
24/30
Children were among the 84 killed in the atrocity, with around 50 more hospitalised
Reuters
25/30
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd L) speaks to the media in Nice
AFP/Getty Images
26/30
A man walks with his hands up as police officers carry out checks on people in the centre of French Riviera town of Nice
AFP/Getty Images
27/30
With injured people laying in the street police and onlookers react near to a truck in Nice
AP
28/30
Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of the attack
AFP/Getty Images
29/30
Police officers speak with a soldier after a truck that ploughed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice
AFP/Getty Images
30/30
Police shine a light into the cab as they approach the driver's cab of a truck, in Nice
AP
They said the man had hurled himself into the cab when the 20 tonne truck was held up by an obstruction. He wrestled with the driver, who seized a revolver and fired several shots at the man and at police officers who arrived on the scene. None was hurt. The driver was then shot dead by two officers.
Eyewitness Eric Ciotti told Europe 1 said that as people tried to flee from the truck, someone jumped in and was able to help the police kill the man.
"A person jumped on to the truck to try to stop it," he told the radio station.
"It's at that moment that the police were able to neutralise this terrorist. I won't forget the look of this policewoman who intercepted the killer."
Egyptian Nader El Shafei told the BBC he saw the driver "looking very nervous".
He said: "I kept yelling at him, waving with my hands to stop and trying to tell him that there is a lot people under his truck - dead already. But he did not give any attention to anyone outside the truck.
"And suddenly I saw him picking up something like a cellphone. I thought he would call the ambulance for the accident but it seemed that I was wrong, because he just picked up his gun and he started to shoot the police.
"Just when they (the police) arrived they just felt something was wrong so they kept yelling at him and when he did not step out - they saw him from the window taking his gun out.
"They knew that would be a gun shooting so they just killed him right away - they did not wait to negotiate or something, they just opened fire on him."
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