A Vancouver woman on her honeymoon in Nice, France described the panic during the attack that killed dozens of people as ‘terrifying’.

Lee-Anne Fyculak went to the beach to watch the Bastille Day fireworks at about 9 p.m. local time.

“We were pretty close to where it initially happened,” she said, speaking to CTV from Genoa, Italy, about two hours from Nice.

Fyculak decided the promenade was too busy, so she and her husband were walking along side streets to reach their destination when the attack happened. The language barrier only amplified the confusion.

“What we saw was a stampede crush of people running and screaming towards us,” she said. “That alone was pretty terrifying because neither of us speak any French at all so [we were] trying to ask anyone, “What is happening?’”

She didn’t want to believe the panic was the result of a terrorist attack.

“When you’re in that moment, no one thinks that that’s what it actually is,” she said. “Then there just became a moment where there’s no other answer.”

The couple made it back to the apartment where they were staying about 20 minutes after the attack. It was difficult to get reliable information and internet access was slow with everyone searching for updates on the situation. Amid conflicting reports on the attack, the first thing Fyculak did was call her mother to let her know she and her husband were safe.

“We were locked up in our apartment so we thought that we were relatively safe, but it was really terrifying, and we were just kind of sitting there numb, like, “What just happened?”

Despite the horrific incident in the French city, Fyculak said she still thinks very highly of her time there.

“Even though that happened I would go back there in a heartbeat,” she said. “It was just a really bad ending to a very good part of the trip.”

Students from Nanaimo high schools were also at the Bastille festival and while some of them were "displaced" they were all confirmed to be safe. School District 68 confirmed the 85 students and their chaperones left Nice on Friday for a day trip and received support from the foreign crisis centre.

Across B.C., the effects of the attack were felt.

Extra officers were brought in to a local Bastille Day event in Vancouver. BC Place Stadium lit up in the colours of the French flag hours after news broke of the carnage, and a single white rose was left outside the French consulate building in Vancouver, with a message that roughly translates to: “not afraid.”

The flags at the B.C. Legislature were lowered to half-mast Friday, and will remain so until Monday night.

 

Although B.C. residents are seeing reminders of the attack, Vancouver police said they want to let people know that there's no cause for concern.

"There's absolutely nothing to suggest that we're going to have any sort of incident here in Vancouver," Const. Brian Montague said.

"We want to encourage them not to worry, not to be afraid to do what they do normally."

He said police always encourage people in crowds to "pay attention" and trust their instincts, and find an officer if they have any concerns.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark wrote online she was relieved the B.C. students in France were safe, and that she was shocked by the news.“This is just horrible,” she tweeted. “Thinking of all those involved and their families.”

Appearing at a pancake breakfast at the Calgary Stampede, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared a message of support and sympathy.

“Our hearts go out to all the victims and their families,” he told reporters.

“Canada stands with France as a steadfast ally and we will work with the international community to fight terror and ensure that we live in a peaceful world.”

On Friday French officials extended the country’s nine-month state of emergency and said thousands of police reservists would be deployed on the streets.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk