The stabbing occurred near the Basilica of Notre-Dame de L’Assomption shortly after 9 a.m. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said that three people were confirmed dead, and that the attacker repeatedly shouted “Allahu Akbhar,” or “God is greatest” in Arabic.
According to Estrosi and to French media reports citing police sources, one of the three victims, a woman, had her throat slashed inside the church. The second victim, a man, was stabbed to death. The third known victim, another woman, was killed in a bar in front of the basilica where she had hidden.
The attacker was neutralized by French police and taken to hospital, according to media reports, and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin convened a crisis cell in Paris.
Also on Thursday, a man attacked a security guard outside the French consulate in the Saudi Arabian city of Jiddah. The security guard was taken to hospital and did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the French consulate said in a statement. Saudi authorities confirmed that the attacker had been arrested.
The French press likewise reported that approximately two hours after the Nice stabbing, police shot dead a man who had been threatening a passerby with a knife.
Source: Washington Post
