Anguished wait for family of UC Berkeley student missing in Nice
Friends, family and government officials were frantically searching Friday for a UC Berkeley student who was in the French resort city of Nice and has not been heard from since a terror rampage Thursday killed at least 84 people.
Loved ones pleaded on Facebook and Twitter for help finding Nick Leslie, 20, while holding out hope that he escaped the carnage of the deadly truck attack on Bastille Day that left 202 people injured, including three UC Berkeley students.
Conrad Leslie said his family has received “incredible support” from the UC Berkeley campus and U.S. and French government officials in the search for his son.
A State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. consulate in Marseille is working to account for every U.S. citizen in the city but that privacy considerations prevent the agency from discussing specific cases.
The program was put on hold after the attack for three days of national mourning, and several students left the program early and were on their way home Friday.
“Campus study abroad staff, our risk services office, and student affairs are working with fellow students in France, the program director on the ground, officials in the area, the U.S. consular officials and the family in an effort to locate him,” UC Berkeley administrators wrote on a campus website.
Three of Leslie’s peers were injured in the attack — two with broken legs and one with a broken foot, university officials reported.
According to his Facebook page, Leslie lived in Del Mar (San Diego County) before attending UC Berkeley and was originally from Italy.