Berkeley student confirmed dead in France terror attack
Nicolas Leslie, a UC Berkeley student who had been studying in Nice, France, as part of the campus’s Study Abroad program, has been identified as among the 84 people killed in Thursday’s terrorist attack in the French port city.
July 17, 2016
Nicolas Leslie
Nicolas Leslie, a UC Berkeley student who had been studying in Nice, France, as part of the campus’s Study Abroad program, has been identified as among the 84 people killed in Thursday’s terrorist attack in the French port city.
Leslie, 20, was one of 85 participants in a local summer entrepreneurship program in Nice. Unaccounted for since the truck attack, in which another 200 were injured — including three Berkeley students — he had been the subject of an extensive search by university staff, local officials and family.
His death was reported to campus officials by the FBI, which was notified by its French counterparts earlier today.
“This is tragic, devastating news,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said. “All of us in the UC Berkeley family — both here on campus, and around the world — are heartbroken to learn that another promising young student has been lost to senseless violence. I join Nick’s parents, friends and the entire campus community in condemning this horrific attack, and in mourning the loss of one of our own.”
Leslie’s death comes on the heels of a terrorist attack at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, just two weeks ago, that took the life of 18-year-old Berkeley sophomore Tarishi Jain.
Following the latest attack, two of the injured Berkeley students were released after medical treatment and have returned to their summer dormitories in Nice. They are Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, a senior computer science major in the College of Letters and Science, who sustained a broken leg; and Diane Huang, 20, a senior majoring in environmental economics and policy in the College of Natural Resources, who suffered a broken foot.
Daryus Medora, 21, whose leg was broken, remains in the hospital. He is an undeclared sophomore in the College of Letters and Science.
Leslie, an environmental sciences major, had been planning to begin studies at the Haas School of Business in the fall. Counselors are on the ground in Nice, where some 60 Berkeley students remain, and are available to speak with students on campus. Memorial services are expected to be announced shortly.
A vigil is planned for 4:30 p.m. Monday on Sproul Plaza.