CNR student missing after Nice terrorist attack

July 15, 2016

UPDATE - 6:00 pm, July 15

A representative of the campus’s Study Abroad program is flying to Nice today to help support the students participating in a local summer entrepreneurship program, many of whom were traumatized by Thursday’s terrorist attack that left three of their classmates injured and one missing.

The missing student, Nicolas Leslie, 20, is the subject of an extensive search by university staff, local officials and family.

Two of the injured 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.

Of the 85 students enrolled in the program, four elected to leave immediately for the U.S., while three others will be leaving over the weekend. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Europe class is made up mostly of UC Berkeley students, though students from other UC campuses and local colleges were also enrolled through the university’s study abroad program.

10:45 am, July 15

Three UC Berkeley students studying abroad in Nice, France, are known to have been injured in the terrorist attack yesterday after a truck struck hundreds of people during a fireworks display celebrating Bastille Day.

A fourth student, Nicolas Leslie, 20, is still unaccounted for. Nicolas is a junior majoring in Environmental Sciences in the College of Natural Resources, and is one of 85 UC Berkeley students attending the study abroad program nearby. The campus risk services office and student affairs staff are working with fellow students in France, the program director on the ground, local officials, U.S. consular officials and the family to locate Nicolas.

Lynn Huntsinger, Dean of Instruction and Student Affairs in the College of Natural Resources, commented "We are deeply saddened to hear of the attack in Nice and our hearts go out to all the victims, including the Berkeley students. We are anxiously awaiting news and hoping for Nicolas' safe return.”

Read more and check for updates at the UC Berkeley News Center.