Fake Rumors of a Shooting in France's Cannes Stirs Panic, Causing Injuries

MARSEILLE, KOMPAS.com – Rumors of a shooting in the French town of Cannes unleashed public panic that resulted in dozens of people receiving hospital treatment for minor injuries.

Officials and rescuers on Tuesday stated that false rumors of a shooting spread on the main promenade of the town of Cannes.

By 4am (0200 GMT), emergency services counted 44 injured individuals who were brought to the hospital by ambulance or made their own way there.

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A rescuer shared that the majority of the injuries were minor, mainly to the lower leg.

Rumors of a shooting sent holiday-makers and diners running into one another and scrambling to escape a threat that never existed.

Almost 100 emergency service personnel were deployed to the Croisette promenade to deal with the aftermath of the mass panic that hit the glitzy resort town best known for hosting the Cannes Film Festival.

Amateur videos of the crush posted online show people ducking under dining tables and running fearfully in all directions on the seafront promenade, lined with luxury boutiques, which annually rolls out the red carpet for the world's movie stars.

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"There were no gunshots in Cannes," mayor David Lisnard tweeted around midnight, but rather an outbreak of "collective panic after an individual shouted 'gunshot'".

He added later that the panicked reaction "says a lot about the level of tension in our society".

The local authority of the Alpes-Maritime region that includes Cannes and Nice tweeted in the early hours there had been "no shooting nor gunfire. It is a panic. DON'T SPREAD FALSE RUMOURS!"

France has been the target of several terror attacks since 2015, including a man ramming a truck into a crowd in Nice on the July 14 national holiday in 2016, killing 86 people. 

(Writers & Editors: KAP-JP/MLR/BP, Agence France-Presse) 

Source: http://u.afp.com/32dP