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A heroic motorcyclist died as he tried to use his bike to stop the Nice attacker, a journalist has said.
As the killer drove a lorry down a packed Nice promenade in an attack that would kill at least 84 people, a person on a motorcycle attempted to stop him and ended up giving his own life to do so, according to holidaying German journalist Richard Gutjahr.
Mr Gutjahr said that he could hear angry shouts outside of the place he was staying, and looked out to see the large white truck moving slowly down the road, despite the fact that it was supposed to have been blocked off for the party.
Show all 30 1 /30In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People gather to view the floral tributes near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Floral tributes are laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Crime scene investigators work on the 'Promenade des Anglais' after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice
EPA
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Discarded items are left on the beach, not far from the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bullet holes in the windscreen of the lorry that was driven into the crowd at high speed
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Rescue workers help an injured woman to get in a ambulance
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Authorities investigate a truck after it plowed through Bastille Day revelers in the French resort city of Nice, France
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Celebrations of Bastille Day were targeted by the lorry driver
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A paramedic attends one of the dozens of people injured in the Nice Bastille Day attack
In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Soldiers march on street where the lorry crashed into the crowd
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Children were among the 84 killed in the atrocity, with around 50 more hospitalised
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd L) speaks to the media in Nice
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks with his hands up as police officers carry out checks on people in the centre of French Riviera town of Nice
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack With injured people laying in the street police and onlookers react near to a truck in Nice
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of the attack
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack 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
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In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police shine a light into the cab as they approach the driver's cab of a truck, in Nice
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He told the BBC: "All of a sudden, with all the people, all the families celebrating, this truck was approaching and it was approaching very slowly so it didn't really rush but you could ask yourself 'What is a truck doing in the heart of this?"
He then saw a motorcyclist attempt to stop the lorry before being run over, before police officers tried to shoot the driver in an attempt to stop him. It was at that point that he realised the lorry was being deliberately driven down the road to kill people, he said.
From the Charlie Hebdo attack to Nice - the moments that have rocked France "From that moment on the rampage took place. The vehicle accelerated and ran in a very odd way right in the middle of the crowd," he said.
"The panic really kicked in when the gunshots were shot and it went on for 15-20 seconds of gunfire from several guns. That was the moment when everyone understood that it was not just an ordinary accident."
Other eyewitnesses have described how a man did make it into the cab of the lorry and helped to subdue its driver .
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