Muscat/Dubai: An Omani couple and an Omani family on separate holidays in France narrowly escaped the grisly attack on revellers and tourists that killed at least 84 people on Thursday night.
Farah, a Muscat resident who was on a week-long holiday in France with her husband, was at the promenade in Nice watching the Bastille Day fireworks when the attack took place. She witnessed crowds running frantically away from the scene of the attack.
“It was when we were walking back to our hotel that we saw thousands of people running in the opposite direction, shouting ‘terror attack’, ‘run’. My husband and I ran as fast as we could away from the direction of the hotel,” said Farah, adding that it was hours until she and her husband made their way back to the hotel.
“There was complete chaos everywhere and we were as scared as the others. I did not see [the attack] but had to lie low for a few hours as the police were not allowing pedestrians on the promenade. We finally made our way through the back alleys to our hotel after a couple of hours,” Farah told Gulf News from Monaco, which she and her husband left for on Friday.
“We travelled by road to Monaco and there were many roadblocks all along the way. The police has been screening all cars,” she recounted.
Sami Al Yaqoobi’s family planned to watch the fireworks in Nice but cancelled plans at the last minute because his son couldn’t get enough sleep.
“We were ready to go out and celebrate Bastille Day. We dressed up and and were about to leave the hotel room,” Al Yaqoobi told Gulf News, adding that the family decided to stay in after he realised that his son was too tired to go out.
“I was trying to wake him up but then I decided to wait for him to get up. Luckily he didn’t wake up until after the attack. We heard people screaming and crying. I told my wife something terrible is happening,” he said.
Al Yaqoobi, from the province of Ibri and in his forties, arrived in Nice on holiday with his family on Thursday. The hotel the family was staying at was only metres away from the promenade on which the attack took place.
“I thank God for that. God saved me and my family” said Al Yaqoobi, who was travelling with his wife, two daughters and two sons. He arrived in Paris on Thursday and headed straight to Nice.
“I was scared to go anywhere in this tough time and I prefer to stay at our hotel until we leave. We are leaving Nice today to Paris and then to Germany,” he said on Friday.
Meanwhile, Oman’s Embassy in Paris affirmed that there are no Omani students in the southern French city, adding that none of the Omani tourists in Nice had contacted the embassy prior to travelling.
Oman on Friday condemned the attack. “We condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of those killed, and we wish a full recovery for the many wounded,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted.
Farah and her husband are going ahead with their holiday plan and are determined not to cut it short. “We are in Monaco for a day and will return to Nice on Saturday. We will continue to spend our time there and return as planned after three days,” she said.
“This was absolutely shocking. I had personally seen so many children there as people came out as families to watch the fireworks... It is such a shame as this act goes against the fundamentals of humanity. No one could have imagined this could have happened on a public holiday when people were celebrating liberty. I saw so many happy faces, people were cheering aloud as we watched the brilliant fireworks,” she said.
