Nice terror attack analysed by RMS
Following the terror attack on July 14 in Nice, involving the driver of a 25-tonne lorry driving full speed into a crowd of people along the Promenade des Anglais avenue, risk modelling company Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has commented on the exceptional nature of the attack.
Among the casualties, 84 pedestrians were killed and approximately 50 injured, with 18 reportedly in a critical state.
The most concentrated area of fatalities and injuries was outside the Hyatt Hotel on the Promenade des Anglais, which runs parallel to the beach and is fronted by many cafes, hotels and restaurants.
Because of the Nice attack the state of emergency in France, which was to end in two weeks, has been extended by President Hollande for an additional three months.
Gordon Woo, RMS terrorism expert, commented: “Yesterday’s attack in Nice, France has caused understandable shock at the way so many casualties could be inflicted.
“The use of vehicles by terrorists is usually associated with the carrying of improvised explosives although there are precedents for them being used to drive into crowds of people, notably in Jerusalem.
“However it is exceptional for the death toll from such an attack to exceed 50.
“The targeting of this attack conforms with a basic principle of terrorism risk analysis - that name recognition is a key factor. The Promenade des Anglais is to Nice what the Champs Élysées is to Paris.
“This terrorist attack can also be understood in terms of threat displacement. The French security services were on high alert for terrorist disruption of the EURO2016 soccer tournament, which concluded on July 10 in Paris. Terrorism risk analysis predicts that, if security is very tight around a primary target, an attack will be displaced to another venue and another time.”
