Extra

U.C. Berkeley student confirmed dead in Nice

Keith Burbank (BCN)
Sunday July 17, 2016 - 07:09:00 PM

Officials with the University of California at Berkeley said a 20-year-old junior at the university was identified as one of the dozens of people who died in an attack Thursday in Nice, France.  

The officials said Nicolas Leslie who had been missing since a big-rig barreled through a crowd watching a fireworks show to celebrate France's independence on Bastille Day was confirmed among the dead, the FBI told university officials today.  

"This is tragic devastating news," UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in a statement.  

"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."  

The attack killed at least 84 and injured more than 200. 

Leslie's death follows that of 18-year-old UC Berkeley sophomore Tarishi Jain, who was killed in a terrorist attack July 1 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  

Three other UC Berkeley students were injured in the attack in Nice, university officials said.  

Two of those students have been released from a hospital and the third is recovering.  

All four were among 85 participants in a summer entrepreneurship program near Nice. 

Leslie was an environmental science major who planned to begin studying in the Haas School of Business next month.  

"Survivor's guilt is one of the strongest emotions I've felt," Leslie's friend Abhinav Kukreja said on Facebook today.  

"I did not know Nick all that while, but out of the last 21 days, I went out with him 20 nights. The one night I was sick, and wanted to stay home, this happened. You're the happiest person I ever knew. Thank you for the best three weeks of my life." 

Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom said on Twitter, "My thoughts are with the family, fellow students, and loved ones of @Cal student Nick Leslie." 

A vigil is planned for 4:30 p.m. Monday on Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus.