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Families of Paris, Nice Victims Threaten Lawsuits Over Security Failures

© REUTERS / Pascal RossignolA woman reacts near flowers and flags placed in tribute to victims, two days after an attack by the driver of a heavy truck who ran into a crowd on Bastille Day killing scores and injuring as many on the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, France, July 16, 2016.
A woman reacts near flowers and flags placed in tribute to victims, two days after an attack by the driver of a heavy truck who ran into a crowd on Bastille Day killing scores and injuring as many on the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, France, July 16, 2016. - Sputnik International
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Victims of both the Nice atrocity, in which 84 people were killed by a man driving a truck through crowds on Bastille Day, and the Paris attacks of November 13, in which 130 died and hundreds more were injured in a series of attacks, are considering legal actions against the state.

A soldier secures the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Monday, July 18, 2016, prior to a minute of silence to honor the victims of the Bastille Day attack on Thursday in Nice - Sputnik International
Nice Politician Accuses French Interior Ministry of Bastille Day Cover-Up
The victims of the Nice attack claim that security and policing on July 14 were lax and that there were nowhere near enough police deployed on a state holiday when thousands of people would be on the streets at a time of a high terror threat. 

The driver of the 19-ton truck plowed into crowds along the promenade in Nice, despite heavy vehicles being banned on public holidays in France and those over 3.5 tons being barred from the promenade all year round. There was also criticism of the police for not deploying enough forces to secure the event or prevent vehicles entering the pedestrian zone.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve initially said "national police were present and very present on the Promenade des Anglais" and that their cars were blocking the entrance to the promenade. However, he later admitted only local police, who are more lightly armed than national police, were guarding the entrance to the area.

Security Failures

According to the Liberation newspaper, only one local police car was stationed at the entrance to the promenade. Cazeneuve has ordered an inquiry into the security at the event and the reasons why the attacker was able to drive to the area several times before being able to mow down scores of people.

© AP Photo / Luca BrunoFrench police officers patrol on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, three days after a truck mowed through revelers, Sunday, July 17, 2016.
French police officers patrol on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, three days after a truck mowed through revelers, Sunday, July 17, 2016. - Sputnik International
French police officers patrol on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, three days after a truck mowed through revelers, Sunday, July 17, 2016.

According to France 24, lawyer Samia Maktouf — whose clients already include relatives of victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed — said she had been contacted by people injured in the Nice attack and their families to file lawsuits against local authorities and the French state.

"These people are shocked, sickened, they simply cannot understand how it was possible for such a large truck to drive freely around town on the night of our national holiday," Maktouf said.

​She is representing 17 families of victims of last November's Paris attacks and plans to take action against the French and Belgians for "the very serious security dysfunctions" that led to the attacks.

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