A SOMERSET man has said he is “lucky to be alive” after being caught up in the Nice terror attack.

Last night, as crowds of people celebrated the national holiday of Bastille Day, a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man drove a large truck through crowds of people on the Promenade de Anglais in Nice, according to reports.

He was also seen to fire a gun out of the truck.

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So far, 84 people have been killed in the attack, with 50 more seriously injured.

The driver of the truck was shot dead by police, and two days of mourning have been declared in France.

Now, Andy Shaw, a 53-year-old man from Weston-super-Mare, spoke to Sky News the morning after the attack, and described the scene as harrowing.

He was with his wife as the horrific tragedy unfolded, and fled to a nearby street when they heard bangs and crowds of people running.

He said: "The wagon that was involved had smashed into the lamp post I was actually leaning against, so I feel I had a bit of an escape.

"I walked towards the direction the wagon was coming from and walked into a side street. I heard a lot of banging and screaming and then everybody ran past me.

"I started to run. My wife got very scared and we started running.

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“Our apartment was around the corner and we could hear the sirens all evening.

"There were people running, soldiers on the street, it was quite a harrowing scene."

Mr Shaw said when he initially heard the bangs, he thought it was ‘children's toys and fireworks’.

He added: "We didn't know what was happening and got back to our apartment as fast as possible and locked the doors behind us," he said.

"I consider myself to be very, very lucky to be here."

Nice regional president Christian Estrosi said guns and grenades were found in the lorry.

The politician, who was at the celebration when the carnage happened, said: "This is the worst Nice drama of history.

"We are terrified and we want to present to all the families our sincere condolences."

France has been left reeling from the attack, with it being the third major terrorist-related attack in just 18 months.

It is the 10th terrorist incident in the country since gunmen stormed satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s office in Paris, and is less than a year after the Paris terrorist attacks in November, which killed 130 people.

French president Francois Hollande said the country's state of emergency would be extended for another three months.

Mr Hollande led a wave of condemnation from world leaders, saying: "France has been hit by a tragedy once again. This monstrosity of using a lorry to deliberately kill people, many people, who only came out to celebrate their national day.

"France is in tears. It is hurting but it is strong, and she will be strong, always stronger than the fanatics who wish to hurt us."

He also said a military operation was in place which would allow the mobilisation of 10,000 troops, and that police from across the country would be called to assist their colleagues in Nice.

The country's borders were being tightened, said Mr Hollande, as he vowed that France would show "real force and military action in Syria and Iraq".

AN EMERGENCY contact number has also been launched for people to contact if they fear loved ones had been caught up in the attack.

The Foreign Office has set up the number 0033 1 4451 3100