Scots caught up in Nice’s worst ever terrorist attack have revealed the full extent of the horrors experienced by those on the ground.
A north-east man described the “terrifying” moment he watched as a “stampede” of frightened Bastille Day revellers fled Nice’s main square.
Tom Brawley was on a week-long holiday in the Rivera town with girlfriend Thanh Truong and was at a nearby restaurant as the horror unfolded.
Last night, he said he and Miss Truong had a “lucky escape” – and only avoided the scene of the massacre because his girlfriend “took ages” to get ready to go out for the evening.
The process engineer, who works for Shell in the Netherlands, said: “I wanted to go see the fireworks which I thought were on at 11pm but my girlfriend was taking ages so we ended up having dinner at 9pm in the old town.
“We were at a restaurant about one street from the promenade and thought we could maybe see the fireworks from there.
“About 10.40pm we heard a bit of noise and then didn’t know what it was.
“We turned to see an absolute stampede of people moving towards us, not just young men but women and young kids running full force.
“Everyone was just sprinting away and we saw all the waiters drop everything and run.
“My girlfriend jumped over a table and we ran into the restaurant and locked ourselves in a toilet for about three or four minutes.
“At that stage the reality began to sink in and we were pretty terrified.
“We went back outside and everything seemed calm again.
“We were asking the waiters what had happened but they only spoke French.
“They said there was something about a gunman and then a car crash so we just had no idea.
“We went back to our apartment and in the morning we saw just how bad it was.
“We went down to the scene and the truck was still there and we could see all the bullet holes in it.
“You see these sort of things on the news but you never expect them to happen to you in life.”
Mr Brawley, a former pupil of Aberdeen’s Cults Academy, said: “The thing I remember most was the sheer terror on the face of the waiter. It was something else.”
The couple are due to return to their home in The Hague next week and Mr Brawley has been in touch with his parents in Peterculter.
He said: “It was so busy in the promenade, people were packed in there like sardines.
“We were very lucky.”
Kevin O’Hara, 37, is a singer-songwriter who moved to Nice six years ago.
He was well known on the Inverness music scene and played with the Syke Hooks and the Black Isle Rock Orchestra.
Ma Nolan’s Irish bar in Nice where he performs is just round the corner from the promenade.
He arrived for work at around 10.30pm and was padlocking his bike as the terror attack unfolded.
Mr O’Hara said: “Right in front of me people started running away from the promenade.
“What was unnerving was there were no screams.
“We started getting people into the bar. We got people in and we closed the doors. We still weren’t really sure exactly what was going on.
“One of the people told us the police said to run, so they ran.
“The TV was on and that was when we knew someone with a lorry had started running people over.
“As we were watching the coverage the atmosphere was strange – because some people realised that what was happening was only two minutes away and others weren’t computing at all.
“There were still people going out for cigarettes. One guy walked out of the bar and was standing in the middle of the road having a conversation on his phone. It was really weird and surreal.
“It was absolutely horrific. It is hard to explain. Then we realised just two minutes round the corner from us there were people dying. There was nothing we could do.
“Bastille Day is a huge day here, thousands and thousands of people were on the promenade. It was families, young teenagers, people with prams.”
Mr O’Hara said that by the following morning the people of Nice were already starting to go about their business.
He said: “The idea that these terrorists are going to strike to the heart of our fears and make us turn against our neighbours just because they come from a different place – it doesn’t really wash here.
“People got up and got on with business. Children are playing in the parks, businesses are open, trams and buses are running.
“People are already making their way down to the promenade paying their respects. It is a statement and it is the right statement.”
Sandra Kinloch, from Stanley, told BBC Scotland how the truck passed two metres from her on the promenade, where thousands of people had been celebrating Bastille Day.
Mrs Kinloch, who is in the southern French city with her husband on holiday, said: “I was walking on the promenade and seconds later the lorry didn’t have its lights on, so we could just hear it.
“It was coming at speed and it was noisy and kicking over bins and things. We were just so lucky to get out of the way at the right time.
“We realised something had happened straight away when we got back.
“I just want to go home but we’re stuck now, it’s awful.”
While a number of Scots were caught up in the chaos, a Dundee man living in Nice has revealed that his life may have been saved by the fact he decided to take a shower.
Twenty-eight-year-old Ciaran Laverty has been based in the south of France since 2013.
The musician had been due to meet friends to celebrate Bastille Day, but decided to stay at home.
Then after having a change of heart, he went for a shower and started making his way to the city’s promenade to meet up with fellow revellers.
That was when he became aware something terrible had happened.
Mr Laverty said: “As I was going into the old town I heard a bang.
“My friends sent me a message saying ‘Ciaran, wait’.
“Where I was meant to meet them is up by McDonald’s near the Negresco Hotel where it happened
“Luckily for me, being late has saved me, taking that shower has been the thing which has caused me not to be some sort of casualty or fatality.”
He revealed he initially thought crowds of people running past him were revellers – but that he soon realised the awful truth
He said: “People congregate and celebrate at the event and initially I thought that’s what they were doing.
“But then I was seeing people crying, screaming and in hysterics.
“I thought it was bizarre, but no one told me what was going on.
“Eventually I went down to the beach and phoned someone to ask them where they were. It was then explained to me what had happened.”
Mr Laverty had planned to spend another season in Nice, but now intends to come home.
