Sadly Familiar Hashtag Resurfaces During Nice Terror Attack

The #PorteOuverte hashtag was again used to offer sanctuary to those caught up in a terror attack in France on Thursday.

The phrase, which translates to “Open Door,” trended on Twitter after a driver identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a truck into a packed crowd watching a Bastille Day fireworks display in Nice. At least 84 people were killed .

People mostly used the hashtag and its local variation, #PorteOuverteNice, to offer survivors a safe place to stay.

Others also posted details about free transportation:

The hashtag first came to prominence in November 2015  when 130 people were killed in Paris in terror attacks coordinated by the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

Freelance French journalist Sylvain Lapoix launched the social movement with this single tweet, which immediately went viral:

”Those who can open their doors, geotag your tweets and [use] #PorteOuverte to indicate safe places,” it read. 

Lapoix later told French TV he came up with the hashtag while having “presence of mind for a minute.” “It took me two seconds to tweet ,” he added, “and after that, for hours and hours, people gave their trust and their time.”