Nearly 24 hours after a Bastille Day celebration was transformed into a nightmare, “locals and visitors returned to the Promenade des Anglais to lay flowers for the dead and to wonder exactly how, and why, the unthinkable had come to pass,” my colleague Sam Jones reports from the city.
Throughout Friday, impromptu shrines had sprung up along the metal barriers that closed off the promenade. From one hung a tricolor with a black ribbon sewn on to the white central stripe. At another, a picture of Buddha watched over a dozen small candles. Someone had left a cigarette lighter and more nightlights on the ground so others could light candles and offer prayers.
Madame Bourmault, who lives two minutes from the promenade, came to one of the shrines with a bunch of flowers in her hand and tears in her eyes.
“I can’t sleep and I can’t breathe. It’s just horrible,” she said.
“What else can you say?” She had been down by the firework display on Thursday night, and seen a sudden tide of people screaming and running away. “In a fraction of a second, the music stopped and there was a lot of screaming. Everyone was running and no one was helping.”
On Bormault’s mind was a question that many around the world are asking: how had the truck managed to get on to the promenade? “It’s normally closed to traffic,” she said. However, she did not blame the police. “I don’t know what else the police could have done, but I don’t understand how the truck got in.”
She added: “You can’t put a policeman behind everyone - and there area lot of crazy people in this world.”
Leila Pasini, an Italian tourist from Milan on holiday in Nice, had been on the promenade before the attack but had returned to the flat where she was staying to make sure her dog was OK.
“We left just before the truck came and then I looked out of the window and saw a river of people running and crying. It looked like the apocalypse but I didn’t know what was going on.”
Pasini said she had heard that the truck had been close to the promenade for a long time and that the driver had explained that he was delivering ice.
“I don’t know whether that’s true or not,” she said. “But if it is true, then that’s very serious. Why would a truck be there for so long?”
By nine o’clock last night, life on the Rue de France, which runs close to the promenade, was slowly returning to normal. A few hundred yards from the scene of the atrocity, people walked their dogs and sat eating on restaurant terraces. Past them walked couples carrying flowers and clutching each other’s hands tightly.
Ita Murray and her friend Jackie Ellis, had arrived in Nice from London a few hours before the attack. They had intended to go and watch the fireworks but the day’s traveling had got the better of them and they chose to stay on their balcony.
“About 11, we saw all these youngsters running and screaming,” said Murray. “They were tearing around and we thought it was a prank.”
It wasn’t until nine on Friday morning, when they were awoken by phone calls from their anxious families, that they understood what all the shouting and running had been about. And that their fatigue had been a blessing.
“We were just too tired,” said Ellis. “Otherwise we would have been up
there because there’s always something going on.”
What we know
- Eighty-four people, including 10 children, were killed on Thursday night when a 31-year-old French Tunisian attacked Bastille Day celebrations in Nice by speeding a truck for 2km (about 1 mile) along the crowded promenade.
- Two hundred and two people were injured and 52 people remain in critical care, 25 on life support, French prosecutor François Molins said. Three or four children are in extremely critical condition, a doctor told the Guardian. The dead include two Americans, a Russian student and a motorcyclist who tried to board the truck to stop the driver.
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President François Hollande called the attack “terrorism of opportunity” at a 4am address, and announced three days of mourning and an extended national emergency. He now faces political backlash over the country’s struggling security services.
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The attacker was named as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a chauffeur and deliveryman who was born in Tunis but had lived in France for years. Three police officers exchanged fire with Lahouaiej-Bouhlel during his rampage, and found him dead in the passenger seat of the truck, Molins said.
- Police found two automatic weapons, ammunition, a mobile phone and documents in the truck, the prosecutor said. They also found fake weapons in the vehicle and more documents at Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s residence.
- Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had a history of threats, violence and petty theft, Molins said, dating from 2010 to 2016, and had been sentenced in March to six-months in prison for a road rage incident.
- But he was “totally unknown” to French counter-terrorism agencies, Molins said, and so far authorities have not found links to terror groups or evidence of radicalization. Prime minister Manuel Valls said that he “probably” had some a link to extremism, but admitted the investigation has no evidence at this point.
- Police have taken the gunman’s ex-wife in for questioning; Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a father of three. Molins said they are also investigating whether he acted alone or had accomplices.
- No terror group has taken credit for the attack, though certain elements mirror recent attacks by the Islamic State (Isis) and its sympathizers.
- Embassies and French authorities have urged concerned relatives to call for information, as worried loved ones wait for news amid horrifying witness accounts of the attack.
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Barack Obama called for unity around the world in the wake of the Nice attack, and rejected calls to target Muslims or minority groups. “We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that’s exactly what the terrorists want.,” he said. “We should never do their work for them.”
Updated
In Nice, the day ends with tension – an altercation and reported arrest at a vigil – and a surreal calm over the sea.
Buzzfeed’s Ryan Broderick reported that the crowd at a vigil in Nice angrily rallied to stop a man who disrupted the event.
Members of the #NiceAttack crowd were crying. News crews chased cop car down the street. pic.twitter.com/NHCyi5SsUq
— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) July 15, 2016
And the New York Times’ Alissa Rubin tweets a scene of strange quiet at the shore.
A late volleyball game on the beach in Nice.some people seem oblivious to yesterday's tragedy #NiceFrance #Attentat pic.twitter.com/r7pjAE6hiv
— Alissa J. Rubin (@Alissanyt) July 15, 2016
Authorities have identified the nationalities of more victims, though not all of their names, as officials continue to contact families around the world.
French authorities and families have identified four victims. Parisian Timothe Fournier, 27, died after pushing his pregnant wife out of the truck’ path, his cousin Anais told AFP. “He was a great guy,” she said, “a young dreamer but someone who was always there for his wife and his future child.”
Also killed were 28-year-old economics teacher Michael Pellegrini, 60-year-old athletics club president Robert Marchand, and 45-year-old police commissioner Emmanuel Grout, 45, who was off duty and watching the fireworks, according to local media.
Two Americans were killed, and family identified them as Sean Copeland, 51, and his 11-year-old son Brodie. They were with their family in Nice on vacation from Lakeway, Texas.
A student from the University of California, Berkeley, remains missing, the school has said in a statement. Three other students were wounded.
The missing student is 20-year-old Nicolas Leslie, one of 85 students on a two-week trip to study abroad in Europe. The university said that two other students had broken legs and a third had a broken foot.
Two Swiss citizens, a woman and a child, were killed, according to the foreign ministry in Geneva. The mayor of the town of Agno named the woman as Linda Casanova Siccardi, a 54-year-old customs agent, who was traveling with her husband.
A German teacher and two of her students from Berlin’s Paula-Fuerst School were killed, according to the city’s mayor.
Three Tunisians were killed, including Olfa Bent Souayah, the mother of a four-year-old boy who remains missing, according to the country’s foreign ministry. Officials there also said that two men, Bilal Labaoui and mechanic Abdelkader Toukabri, were killed.
Two Algerian children and a 70-year-old woman were killed, according to a foreign ministry spokesperson, and a 60-year-old Moroccan named Fatima Charrihi was killed, according to her son Hamza. He told local media that she was a devout Muslim who practiced “real Islam, not that of the terrorists”.
One Russian student, 21-year-old Victoria Savchenko, was killed, according to the foreign ministry in Moscow. Savchenko was on vacatino with a friend, who was injured but not in serious condition. A Ukrainian national was also killed, according to foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin.
Updated
Obama: nations must guard against bigotry
Obamas continues with his call to unity: “we cannot give in to fear or turn on each either.”
“We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that’s exactly what the terrorists want. We should never do their work for them.”
“We have to be vigilant to defend our security and our freedoms,” he continues. “And all of us, whatever nations we represent here, I think have to step back and reflect on what we’re doing to eliminate this kind of chronic violence.”
Obama then draws the violence in France to the recent shootings in the United States: five police officers killed in Dallas last Friday and two black men killed by police in the days before that shooting.
“It’s been a difficult several weeks here in the Untied States, but the divide that exists is not between races and ethnicities and religion. It is between people that recognize the common humanity of all people, and are willing to build institutions that promote that common humanity, and those who do not.
“Those who would suggest that somebody is less than them because of their tribe or their ethnicity or their color. And those impulses exist in all our countries. And those impulses, when we do not speak out against them and build strong institutions to protect them from those impulses, they can take over. They can be unleashed. …
“Even as we are relentless against terrorists, it’s also worthy for us to recognize that our nations have worked together for security and peace and human dignity around the world.”
The president concludes his remarks by hailing the work of diplomacy, and the common good created in Europe and Latin America through it: “What a contrast to the death and nihilism that terrorists offer.”
Updated
Obama: calls to target Muslims are 'repugnant'
President Barack Obama is addressing the attack in Nice, saying Americans and their allies cannot do terrorists’ “work for them” by targeting people for race or religion.
He says he called president François Hollande to offer the US’s full support.
“I know I speak for all of us when I say that these individuals and these networks are an affront to all our humanity,” Obama says. He notes that the attack in Nice killed “people of all faiths, including Muslims”.
“We will not be deterred. We will not relent. We are going to keep taking out Isil,” he continues. “We are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization.”
“And in contrast to these terrorist who only know how to kill and destroy, we’re going to build this fight buy building, by never giving up on diplomacy, by working with partners around the world, including Muslim communities.”
He says that Islam is “a religion that teaches peace and justice and compassion”.
“We will continue to promote political opportunity and democracy so citizens have a say in their future,” he says.
”We will in this fight by staying true to our values, of pluralism and rule of law and diversity and freedoms, like the freedom of religion, freedom of speech and assembly, the very freedoms that the people of Nice were celebrating last night on Bastille Day.”
“On the wake of last night’s attack we’ve heard more suggestions that Muslims in America” be targeted for tests, exclusion and even expulsion, he says, alluding to the calls from Republican Donald Trump and his allies.
“The very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything that we stand for as Americans.” Obama says.
Updated
French PM: 'probable' but no confirmed terror link
French prime minister Manuel Valls has said that although he cannot confirm the attacker’s motives, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel “is a terrorist probably linked to radical Islam one way or another”.
Still, the prime minister told France 2 he had no doubt that the crime was terrorism. “It is a terrorist act and we shall see what the links there are with terrorist organizations.”
He added that the death toll will probably increase – at last count 52 people remained in critical care, including 25 people on life support. Authorities have so far counted 202 people injured in all.
Valls added a warning that more attacks could follow Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s example, but that France would not be deterred:“I am convinced we will win the war against terrorism and radical Islam.”
Far more cautious was French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who told broadcaster TF1 that broadcaster TF1 was “not known to intelligence services for activities linked to radical Islam”.
Asked whether he could confirm the a link to jihadism, he said: “No”.
Updated
Neighbors of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel have described the killer as a “frightening man” who kept to himself but showed no signs of radicalization, Reuters reports.
While a history of threats, violence and theft had caused him several run-ins with the law previously, Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not on a watch list of French intelligence services as a suspected militant.
He was convicted for the first time in March this year, French justice minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said. “There was an altercation between him and another driver and he hurled a wooden pallet at the man,” Urvoas told reporters.
As it was his first conviction, Bouhlel was given a six-month suspended sentence and had to contact police once a week, which he did, Urvoas added. He had three children but lived separately from his wife who was taken into police custody on Friday, prosecutor Francois Molins said.
Tunisian security sources told Reuters Bouhlel had last visited M’saken four years ago. They also said they were not aware of Bouhlel holding radical or Islamist views, saying he had a French residence permit for the past 10 years without obtaining French nationality.
Neighbours in the residential neighbourhood in northern Nice where Bouhlel lived said he had a tense personality and did not mingle with others. “I would say he was someone who was pleasing to women,” said neighbour Hanan, standing in the lobby of the apartment building where Bouhlel lived. “But he was frightening. He didn’t have a frightening face, but ... a look. He would stare at the children a lot,” he added.
A former neighbour in Bouhlel’s hometown of M’saken, about 120km (75 miles) south of Tunis, told Reuters he had left for France in 2005, after getting married, and had worked as a driver there.
His home town of M’saken is about 10 km (six miles) outside the coastal city of Sousse, where a gunman killed 38 people, mostly British holidaymakers, on a beach a year ago.
Relatives and neighbours in Msaken said Bouhlel was sporty and had shown no sign of being radicalised, including when he last returned for the wedding of a sister four years ago.
Bouhlel’s brother Jabeur said he still doubted whether his sibling was the attacker. “Why would my brother do something like this?” he told Reuters, adding: “We’ve been calling him since yesterday evening but he’s not responding.”
Updated
Earnest says the US will give the “strongest support” to France and the investigation into the attack.
“There are significant capabilities that we have to support them and obviously we will assist them,” he says.
A reporter asks about whether recent terror attacks outside the Middle East have at all changed the White House’s thinking about its strategy in the region – secretary of state John Kerry called Syria the world’s greatest “incubator” for terror earlier this week.
Earnest says the calculus has not changed.
“The ultimate solution is not a military one. We can certainly apply significant military pressure and commit significant military resources,” he says, “but the root cause of all of this has been the failed political leadership of Bashar al-Assad.”
The attack is only going “to energize” international military campaigns against terrorism, he adds. Earnest again qualifies that very little is known about what motivated the killer in Nice.
“Whether or not this person had ties to Isil, the president is committed to making sure we do everything possible to protect the American people.”
Earnest stresses the dangers of “lone wolf” attacks, saying “the threat we are facing now is different from core al-Qaida”.
A reporter asks again about whether Barack Obama believes the US is at war. “The president has essentially declared that the US is ‘at war’ with terrorist organizations such as Isil.”
But Earnest stresses that the White House does not consider the US at odds with any religion or civilization. “We are not at war with Islam, we are at war with a terrorist organization that attacked us, that perverts Islam to try to win recruitment to its cause.”
He’s again asked about people who are radicalized online, as “it’s very difficult to interrupt, to disrupt, attacks that are plotted and acted by just one person.
“There’s a whole lot more that we need to learn about this incident,” he says.
Earnest: "We're mindful of the risk that is posed by a so-called lone wolf." Doesn't necessarily have links to a terrorist organisation.
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) July 15, 2016
Updated
The White House spokesman continues to argue that European nations must improve their intelligence sharing and security agencies – although French police have not yet found signs of radicalization in the Nice attack.
“Just to speak bluntly about this, the previous attacks in Paris in November, I think illustrated this vulnerability best,” Earnest says. “The plotters of the attack were in Belgium but the attack was in France.”
He says this “indicates the cross-border nature of this threat”.
Earnest then argues that it’s actually because the US and its allies are winning territory away from Isis in Syria and Iraq that terror attacks have increased outside the Middle East.
“There are some in the White House who are aware of the risks involved in the progress against Isil,” he says, using another name for Islamic State. “We know that there is some evolution in the direction that Isil is giving to potential recruits.”
“In some cases aren’t even directed by Isil but rather are radicalized by viewing their propaganda online.”
He admits: “I can’t speak to the Nice case” because it’s too soon to know what motivated the killer.
Earnest: It's more of a significant threat now, according to some analysts, because of the progress that is being made.
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) July 15, 2016
Updated
White House: Europe must improve security
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that Barack Obama has called François Hollande to “relay his condolences to the people of France on behalf of the American people”.
He adds that “the United States and France have made important progress in enhancing our security relationship” in the last year.
He says the secretary of defense and the office of the director of national intelligence succeeded in working with the French to create a better “information-sharing relationship”.
The president’s top national security adviser, Lisa Monaco, traveled to France and also worked on a new security deal with her counterpart. Earnest does not get into specifics, saying simple that the arrangement will help identify threats and prevent attacks.
“There is certain expertise that the United States has,” he says, and the secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, has shared some of those techniques with French counterparts.
“Information sharing among European countries needs to be enhanced,” he goes on, arguing that this will in turn improve US security.
A reporter asks him about whether Obama believes the US is at war with terrorism. Earnest says that the president has long said that terrorists declared war on the US with the attack of September 11 2001.
“We’ve been at war ever since,” Earnest says. “And we’ve made progress.”
He says that the deaths of top al-Qaida leaders and the recent retreats of Isis are evidence that the US and western nations are succeeding against terrorism. Then he turns it to Congress, which has not yet passed a resolution – though not a declaration of war – that would sanction increased military action against Isis and other groups.
“This is the worst possible time for leaders or American leaders to suggest that Americans should start turning on each other. That’s exactly what the terrorists want us to do.”
Earnest: "We're still waiting on Congress to pass a resolution to authorise the use of military force against Isil."
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) July 15, 2016
Updated
Hours after the attack, parents were still looking for their children at the hospital in Nice’s Promenade des Anglais on Friday afternoon, my colleague Angelique Chrisafis reports from the city.
The worst thing was the sheer number of children coming in, the nature of their injuries – serious head trauma and broken limbs – and the emotion felt by the children and their families,” said Frederic Sola, a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon who worked in the hospital emergency room through the night. “The children were physically very injured but also emotionally very hurt.”
Some relatives were in such shock they were unable to talk. “The psychologists have heard terrible things, there are awful stories that children are telling,” said Stéphanie Simpson, head of the hospital’s communications team.
She said 39 people hit in the attacks had been brought to the children’s emergency department. A total of 30 children were treated at the hospital after the attack – the youngest only a few months old and the oldest was 18. Two children died in the night after being admitted. Several children were still in intensive care on Friday.
The emotion on the Fondation Lenval emergency ward was heightened by the fact that the six-storey children’s hospital – with its vast airy atrium, kite mosaic, and teddy bear frescoes on a corridor wall – is located right on the promenade where the attack took place. The suspect, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, had passed the hospital as he set out to drive at high speed into the crowd of Bastille Day revellers.
“It happened so close to the hospital that the emotion is very strong,” said Simpson. She herself had been at the fireworks display with her 10-year-old son and had posted pictures on Facebook of him grinning in front of blue and red fireworks exploding in the sky 20 minutes before the attack.
She left 15 minutes before the truck struck because she had spotted a drop of rain falling on her phone while she was taking the photos, and felt it was getting a bit chilly. “There were so many families there – children and grandparents – and many of them had been picnicking on the beach,” she said.
#NiceAttack surgical gloves strewn in the gutter, sadly like those on Paris pavement morning after the #Bataclan pic.twitter.com/G6ObJRaRXv
— Angelique Chrisafis (@achrisafis) July 15, 2016
Updated
Barack Obama has ordered the White House and all public buildings and military stations to fly the flag at half-staff in respect of the Nice victims, as people around France plan vigils in mourning of the dead.
The AP reports on those plans, and on families’ efforts to find survivors.
Different parts of France have planned vigils and rallies in mourning at the scores who lost their lives and defiance against the driver who took them.
Avignon mayor Cécile Helle is calling for a large rally Friday in front of the city hall, with other smaller gatherings and vigils planned the same day and over the weekend in towns such as Poitiers, Le Creusot and Pau.
With some people still searching for news of their loved ones after the Nice truck attack, a Facebook site called “SOS Nice” has begun to attract posts from people hoping to be reunited with missing family members.
The site was quickly filling up with photos, appeals and in some cases good news.
#NiceAttack Flowers left on railings along the seafront. A child's note with hearts on it reads 'Nice is my life' pic.twitter.com/ATZAV28j29
— Angelique Chrisafis (@achrisafis) July 15, 2016
Updated
In 18 months France has suffered attacks on a satirical magazine, the city of Paris, and the promenade at Nice – my colleague Jason Burke tries to answer the question of why France has become the target of so many terror attacks.
One reason is a specific decision by Islamic State to target France. In September 2014, shortly after the beginning of airstrikes by a US-led coalition which includes France, the chief spokesman for Isis, Mohammad al-Adnani, singled out the “spiteful French” among a list of enemies in a speech calling for the group’s sympathisers to launch attacks across the west.
Undoubtedly, the role France has historically assumed as standard bearer of western secular liberalism has put the nation in the spotlight. … Successive governments in Paris have also taken a hard – and much publicised – line on issues such as the wearing of full-body coverings in public and the veil in public places, which has been well noted by Islamic militants. So has the increasingly prominent French military role overseas.
Other reasons for the violence are rooted in grave problems within France itself which have made the nation vulnerable.
Some of these are failings of the fragmented, bureaucratic and still under-resourced security services. A French parliamentary investigation into last year’s terrorist attacks on Paris highlighted a “global failure” of French intelligence and called for the creation of a single, US-style national counter-terrorism agency.
But France’s security also depends on structures at a European level – which have been found wanting repeatedly. Last years’ attacks in Paris and those in Belgium in March highlighted the yawning gap between the capabilities of the continents’ security services and the gravity of the new threat created by the conflict in Syria. Intelligence sharing had not, experts say, kept up with the new dangers posed by freedom of movement within much of the expanded EU.
France has a history of Islamic extremism reaching back decades. The 1990s saw two waves of attacks. One was linked to the bloody civil war between authorities and extremist groups in the former colony of Algeria. A second involved homegrown militants in the north of France who evolved a particular brand of terrorism mixing armed robbery and jihadism.
Almost all those involved in violence in France in recent years have had similar profiles – between 18 and 36, often with a record of involvement in petty crime, known to police if not security services, often served jail sentences, from backgrounds which if not poverty-stricken were far from wealthy, and with insecure, temporary or poorly paid jobs.
The “banlieues” or suburbs where many such men grew up or live are often physically and culturally isolated from more wealthy, integrated neighbourhoods. They are certainly very distant from the France of wine and charcuterie, chateaux and cheese. This gap has not been closed by the French policy of “assimilation” rather than multi-cultural integration into the supposedly secular republique, and has, critics say, created fertile ground for polarisation.
For this may be a final reason why Isis has focused on France. The group has been heavily influenced by both millennial thinking which stresses the imminent final battle between the forces of belief and unbelief as well as jihadi strategic thinking which encourages extremists to use violence to destabilise states or nations to allow their eventual conquest.
Isis thus seeks to terrorise its enemies and mobilise its supporters but above all polarise those communities, which might then turn against one another. In its literature it has specifically pointed to France as where “the Grey Zone” of tolerance and moderation can be usefully targeted and destroyed.
Updated
The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has written to Sylvie Bermann, the French ambassador to the UK, to express his condolences and reaffirm the party and Britain’s support for France and the principles of Bastille Day.
His letter reads in part:
It is with huge sadness that I write to you to express my sincere condolences on behalf of the British Labour party in the aftermath of the horrific attack that occurred in Nice yesterday evening …
Those killed yesterday will doubtless have been of different religions, ethnicities and nationalities. It was an attack on us all, attempting to set people against each other. That is why instead, we stand together, now and always, in defense of tolerance, peace and justice.
Today and in the coming weeks and months, we and others across the globe, stand in solidarity with you and the people of France.
Updated
What we know
- Eighty-four people, including 10 children, were killed on Thursday night when a 31-year-old French Tunisian attacked Bastille Day celebrations in Nice by speeding a truck for 2km (about 1 mile) along the crowded promenade.
- Two hundred and two people were injured and 52 people remain in critical care, 25 on life support, French prosecutor François Molins said. Three or four children are in extremely critical condition, a doctor told the Guardian. The dead include two Americans, a Russian student and a motorcyclist who tried to board the truck to stop the driver.
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President François Hollande called the attack “terrorism of opportunity” at a 4am address, and announced three days of mourning and an extended national emergency. He now faces political backlash over the country’s struggling security services.
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The attacker was named as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a chauffeur and deliveryman who was born in Tunis but had lived in France for years. Three police officers exchanged fire with Lahouaiej-Bouhlel during his rampage, and found him dead in the passenger seat of the truck, Molins said.
- Police found two automatic weapons, ammunition, a mobile phone and documents in the truck, the prosecutor said. They also found fake weapons and more documents at Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s residence.
- Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had a history of threats, violence and petty theft, Molins said, dating from 2010 to 2016, and had been sentenced this year to six-months in prison for a road rage incident.
- But he was “totally unknown” to French counter-terrorism agencies, Molins said, and so far authorities have not found links to terror groups or evidence of radicalization.
- Police have taken the gunman’s ex-wife in for questioning; Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a father of three. Molins said they are also investigating whether he acted alone or had accomplices.
- No terror group has taken credit for the attack, though certain elements mirror recent attacks by the Islamic State (Isis) and its sympathizers.
- Embassies and French authorities have urged concerned relatives to call for information, as worried loved ones wait for news amid horrifying witness accounts of the attack.
Updated
Three to four children are between life and death, an intensive care doctor has told my colleague Angelique Chrisafis, who reports from Nice.
The doctor told her that the children had suffered “car crash injuries” of serious trauma, broken bones and hemorrhages. One young disabled girl was thrown from her wheelchair during the attack, the surgeon said.
The doctor added that he was “the children were physically very injured but also emotionally very hurt,” she reports.
#Nice Paediatric surgeon: "Worst thing was the number of kids, injuries - serious head trauma/broken limbs - & emotion felt by the children"
— Angelique Chrisafis (@achrisafis) July 15, 2016
#NiceAttack Boy, 11, thrown to the ground, head injured by lorry, told his grandad: "I'm dreaming, grandad. Am I dreaming?"
— Angelique Chrisafis (@achrisafis) July 15, 2016
The sister of a Scottish woman feared missing in Nice with her husband since Thursday night’s attack has said that the pair are safe, my colleague Libby Brooks reports.
Carol Annie Cowan, 27, and her husband Ross, 30, called their family in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, around 9pm last night to report that they had arrived in Nice as part of a camping tour across Europe.
Amy Stanton, Carol Annie’s sister, also from Helensburgh, posted on Facebook earlier today: “Asking everyone I know to pray or do anything you can to put all your positive thoughts and energy in to my sister and her husband being safe and well. If anyone knows anyone that is in Nice that could help could you please let me know.”
Ross, a tree surgeon, changed his own Facebook profile to the red, white and blue of the French flag following last November’s Paris attacks. Carol Annie is a primary school teacher.
Amy Stanton told the Daily Record that the couple’s phones had not been working since the attack, nor had they posted on social media that they were safe.
“The whole family just desperately want to hear that they are ok. The longer that goes by without them getting in touch, the more worried we are all becoming.”
Molins made clear that authorities are still identifying all the victims and trying to reach families – but he added that loved ones can call embassy line to try to learn more.
Ambassador spoke outside the Embassy. Emergency tel. number concerning #NiceAttack is: 00 33 1 43 17 56 46. #Nice https://t.co/hOAY9onk00
— France in the UK (@FranceintheUK) July 15, 2016
Prosecutor: Bouhlel had violent past
The prosecutor says that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was known to police and the courts “due to threats, violence and petty theft between 2010 and 2016”.
He was “detained on the 23rd of March on 2016” and sentenced to six months, for a road rage incident. “There was an altercation between him and another driver and he hurled a wooden pallet at the man,” Urvoas told reporters.
He had also been detained for “voluntary violence with weapon and that was in January 2016”.
Authorities were “not aware that he had ever shown a sign of radicalization”, he continues. Bouhlel was “totally unknown” to the intelligence services.
“He arrived alone by bike, [and] this bike was then found alone in the truck. The truck was seen at about 10.30 in Nice before it went to the promenade.”
Police are investigating his residence and found more documents and electronic material there, he adds.
“These materials are of course being investigated … We must determine whether there were any accomplices … or any links to Islamist terrorist organizations.”
He notes that there have been no claims of responsibility, though the attack mirrors past terror attacks. He takes no questions.
Updated
Prosecutor: gunman's ex-wife detained
“After about 1am this morning we began working and activated an anti-terrorist unit in Paris,” the prosecutor continues. “Four magistrates were deployed to Nice and have been working tirelessly since.”
He says that investigators “looked at attempts of assassinations and any links to terrorist operations. We looked at organized groups and any links to terrorist groups”.
He then outlines more details of the attack, saying that the attacker rented the truck on 11 July, and that it “should have been returned on the 13th of July”.
He drove about 2km down the promenade, and fired repeatedly at three policemen when they confronted him near a hotel. Gun shots were exchanged but the truck continued for 300m – the police “eventually found the driver dead in the passenger seat”, the prosecutor says.
In the cabin was one automatic firearm, a charger, bullets, as well as a second automatic weapon. There were also a fake Kalashnikov and M16, a grenade, one mobile telephone, and various documents which are still being examined.”
He was born on 3 January 1985 in Tunis with residence in Nice, he says. The gunman was “a chaffeur and deliveryman”, and fingerprints have confirmed his identity as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.
“His ex-wife was detained at 11am this morning, and remains in custody.”
*This block was amended to note that some of the weapons found inside the vehicle were fake, a clarification of a garbled translation.
Updated
French prosecutor: 52 in critical care
Prosecutor François Molins is now giving an update on the victims and investigation.
The death toll remains 84, he says, and “202 people were injured including 52 who are now in critical care”.
“Among these 52 people 25 are still in intensive care,” he adds. He says the numbers are preliminary and they could increase.
“The terrorist who drove the truck as you know was shot to prevent him from committing more criminal action.
“They have managed to neutralise this person, thus avoiding further victims. I would also like to pay tribute to all state services who were mobilised following this attack.” He thanks doctors and other emergency providers.
He says that authorities are now in the process of identifying the dead, “which is painful for the families of the victims. “All has been done to activate procedures during the attack.”
Updated
Barack Obama will address the Nice attack at about 3.15pm ET, according to the White House.
The US embassy in Paris has meanwhile issued a warning to Americans in France, urging “a high level of vigilance” and “caution at large gatherings”.
American officials “believe the likelihood of terror attacks in Europe will continue as European members of ISIL (Da’esh) return from Syria and Iraq,” the statement continues.
“Additionally, there is a continuing threat in Europe from unaffiliated persons planning attacks inspired by major terrorist organizations but conducted on an individual basis.”
We urge US citizens in Nice to contact family members and loved ones to notify them that you are safe, and to monitor local press for updates and guidance from local authorities.
Experience shows that being in large crowds, either indoors or outdoors, may increase your risk. While the Government of France is not specifically restricting public gatherings, the Embassy reminds US citizens that demonstrations and large events intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational, or can be seen as targets by terrorists. Avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations
The French government continues to operate under a state of emergency, which has been extended in the wake of the Nice attack. The state of emergency allows the government to prevent the circulation of individuals and to create zones of protection and security.
There are reinforced security measures throughout France. These allow for house arrest of any person whose activities are deemed dangerous, the closure of theaters and meeting places, the surrender of weapons, and the possibility of administrative house searches.
The embassy goes on to warn people to “exercise vigilance” in nearly all public venues: transit systems, sporting events and concerts, residential areas, offices, shopping malls, tourist landmarks. You can read the full statement, including contact information for the US embassy in Paris and consulate in Marseille, here.
Le Monde has a useful summary of what it knows about the dead suspect Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel.
It says he had recently been arrested for a fight after a traffic dispute and that he was armed with a pistol.
It points out that although his action suggest he was terrorist, police have urged caution. It points out that in December 2014, a motorist injured several people shouting “Allahu Akbar”, in what was thought was initially thought to be a terrorist attack. It later emerged that he had a long history of psychiatric treatment and the prosecution concluded it was not a terrorist attack.
Updated
More people who were near the seafront in Nice have been getting in touch with their accounts of last night’s events.
Sajda was with her husband Tosif and her cousin Anas, and described the mood as jovial and upbeat. “There were people hanging out at the beach lighting up their own fireworks, vendors were selling crepes with Nutella, music was playing, and everyone was just having a good time,” she said.
“After being there for a little over 10 minutes, we heard what sounded like fireworks going off and then heard screaming. All of a sudden, there were hundreds of panic-stricken people running our way and it was clear that if we did not move, we would get trampled. So we started running as fast as we could while having no idea what was going on.
“I remember nearly falling while trying to head down the stairs to the beach so I just grabbed onto a random person and let him help me down. As we ran down the beach, people were yelling out “qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?” (what happened?) and others running with us responded with “There is a man with a gun” or “The police told us to run.” We still had no idea what was happening but just ran for our lives. I became absolutely terrified for my life.
“Although we were only a 15 minute walk away from where we live, we decided to take a circular route away from the busy streets so it took us over an hour to get home. It was frightening to learn how close we were to losing our lives. If we had decided to head east when we arrived to the promenade instead of west, I might not be here today.”
Gary and his girlfriend travelled to Nice especially for Bastille Day. “We were sat on the beach after the fireworks had finished, so whilst we didn’t physically see it, we were about 50 metres away from it,” he said. “We’ve never seen panic like it – the videos do not show the huge number of people running across the beach. People were confused and as soon as gunshots were heard everyone ran.
“We ran down the beach and went up on to the promenade. As soon as one person started running hundreds followed, even if it was nothing. It wasn’t just the initial panic, but the panic afterwards when we were making our way home that was terrifying – it felt like there was nowhere safe and we were surrounded.
“It needs to be stressed that this day was for families – we sat next to a large family with about seven or eight children. They left literally two minutes before the problems started – I pray to god that they’re safe.”
If you are in Nice you can share your witness accounts, photos and videos or news tips direct with our journalists by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button in the live blog.
You can also fill in our form or contact us on WhatsApp on +447867825056.
Please think about your security first though when recording and sharing your content.
Updated
The French golfer Clément Sordet wore a cap with “Pray For Nice” handwritten on the brim during the Open at Royal Troon.
He said: “It really is a sad event and my thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones. I woke up around 4am and saw I had received lots of texts. People were asking if we were safe and, of course, we were here. I checked with people I knew to make sure they were safe and sound. I tried not to think about it, I tried to stay focused on my game and enjoy my last day at the Open.”
Updated
188 injured, 48 in intensive care
French officials have revealed that 188 people injured in the Bastille Day attack are being treated in hospital, including 48 in intensive care. Earlier, President François Hollande said 50 are “between life and death”.
#Nice 188 patients pris en charge dans les établissements de santé.48 d’entre eux en urgence absolue,dont 25 en réa pic.twitter.com/fG2B2fPDR5
— Aurélie Sarrot (@aureliesarrot) July 15, 2016
The Élysée has put out these pictures of Hollande meeting hospital staff in Nice.
.@fhollande s'est rendu auprès des blessés et a témoigné de son soutien au personnel du CHU Pasteur à #Nice pic.twitter.com/cufFPwNhRV
— Élysée (@Elysee) July 15, 2016
In his latest statement Hollande revealed that 50 people injured in the attack are still in a critical condition “between life and death”.
He said: “Emergency staff came in the middle of the night to intervene to save lives. They did everything they could to save lives. Their dedication was exemplary.”
More victims have been named, according to unofficial reports.
Among them was Russian student Viktoria Savchenko. The Moscow-based academy of finance where she studied said he was killed in the attack.
La vittima russa di #NiceAttack è una studentessa Viktoria Savchenko dell'Università delle Finanze Che dolore #Nizza https://t.co/LpxyHIL5hW
— RussianEmbassy Italy (@rusembitaly) July 15, 2016
Updated
More from Hollande:
We have visited scores of injured, who have horrendous images in their heads. They are suffering more because of the psychological trauma. Even people who have no signs of physical injury will carry throughout their lives the trauma of the horrific images they saw.
And he suggested that at least one police officer was killed in the attack:
I have tears in my spirit about this young policeman, who acted so that the killer could be neutralised and put an end to the carnage. The security services have answered all the demands and the calls upon them.
Updated
Hollande: 50 injured people 'between life and death'
Here’s more from Hollande’s statement, via a BBC translation.
He said the authorities wanted to find out if there were accomplices that posed a threat to the population.
In addition to the 84 victims, Hollande said:
There are 50 other people who are still receiving emergency treatment. They are between life and death. Among the victims are French citizens as well as foreigners, who came from all continents. And there are a number of young children who came to watch fireworks with their families, who have been struck down just to satisfy the cruelty of one individual or possibly of a group.
Updated
A fourth victim has been named, according to unconfirmed reports.
Linda Casanova, 54, from Agno in Ticino, an Italian-speaking region in Switzerland, was confirmed to be among the dead by her brother Ivano Casanova.
Casanova, a customs inspector, was on holiday with her French husband, Gilles, according to Corriere de Ticino. Her brother told the website his sister’s husband was not injured.
Updated
Hollande pays tribute to the bravery of the security forces. He says the police are the “pride of France”. He also thanks the fire and rescue services and the hospitals in Nice.
Hospital staff came in the middle of the night to save lives, Hollande says. Their service was exemplary.
France faces a long battle, the president warns. “The whole world is watching us and expressing its solidarity. The world is thinking of us,” he adds.
Updated
President Hollande is giving a statement after hosting a meeting of security officials in Nice.
He says 84 people have died, and a further 50 are “between life and death”.
People from a number of nationalities are among the dead, Hollande says.
Those who witnessed the attack will have to live with the trauma, he says.
Even after all France has endured, this attack is a huge shock, writes Agnès Poirier
This is the third attack on France and the French way of life in 18 months. Every one of us has been targeted by this radical Islamist ideology: cartoonists, journalists, French Jews, football fans, diners, rock fans, and now families enjoying that most childlike and wondrous of spectacles: Bastille Day fireworks.
There is hope, of course, that this warped ideology, in its profound inhumanity, will eventually self-destruct. We shouldn’t simply wait for it to happen, though.
A state of emergency cannot protect us all. The aim of the attackers is to exhaust police forces while triggering a civil-war mentality in the country. The question is: what can each of us do to eradicate this festering disease? We can stay calm and resolute, of course, but that is not enough. The government must have a clear long-term strategy, and we must all be united and stand firm on the République’s values of fraternité and laïcité.
Updated
Here’s that footage of a motorcyclist attempting to stop the truck. The motorcyclist appears to approach the lorry’s door but is pushed aside (see earlier).
Updated
Front National leader Marine Le Pen has called for war to be declared against Islamic fundamentalism.
“The war against the scourge of Islamic fundamentalism has not started, it is urgent now to declare,” she said in a statement on the party’s website.
She called for action as well as compassion, and said she would put all her energy into leading the fight to “eradicate the scourge of Islamic fundamentalism”.
Updated
Pope Francis says he is praying for the victims and has God to “convert the hearts of the violent blinded by hate”.
I pray for the victims of the attack in Nice and their families. I ask God to convert the hearts of the violent blinded by hate.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) July 15, 2016
A team of experts from Interpol has been dispatched to Nice to help identify the victims.
INTERPOL Incident Response Team being deployed to #Nice to provide disaster victim identification assistance
— INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) July 15, 2016
A security alert at Nice airport has been lifted after passengers were evacuated to allow soldiers to search the terminal.
The airport’s website showed flights leaving and landing as usual. In a message posted to the site’s home page, the airport said: “Despite the dreadful events that occurred, access to the airport and air traffic won’t be disrupted.”
Updated
The western Irish city of Galway has remembered the victims of the Nice attack, just after the city was named European Capital of Culture for 2020.
Up to a thousand people who gathered in Galway’s Mainguard Street to watch a live TV screening of the Capital of Culture result stood and applauded in memory of those who died in the terror attack. The organisers also flew the French flag alongside the light blue flag of the Galway bid in solidarity with France today.
The Irish culture minister, Heather Humphreys, noted that one of the aims of the European City of Culture initiative was to bring the people of Europe closer together and improve mutual understanding. In reflecting on the attack in Nice she said:
“We can only respond to such attacks by strengthening our resolve and commitment to our culture and our way of life in Europe. It is at moments such as this that we say aloud that we will not stop celebrating what is great about living in Ireland, in France or in Europe.
“Our cultural expression was central to the respectful way, this year, that we in Ireland marked the centenary of the birth of our sovereign nation. Last night thousands of locals and visitors were enjoying France’s cultural celebration of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.”
Passing on her sympathy to the victims and their families, Humphreys stated that these values would prevail in Europe no matter the provocation.
Updated
An eight-month-old baby boy lost in the chaos after the attack has been tracked down through Facebook, AFP reports.
Tiava Banner - who said she was not the mother of the baby - sent out an appeal on Facebook looking for any information on the whereabouts of the child who had been lost in his blue stroller when the rampaging truck sent hundreds fleeing in panic as they watched Bastille Day fireworks.
The post was shared thousands of times until it was updated with: “Found! Thank you Facebook and all those who helped us.”
A member of the family contacted by AFP on Friday said: “A young woman found him and took him home with her. She then went online and found the photo of the baby on Facebook.”
The woman then contacted the baby’s parents.
Dozens of other people appealed through social media to find missing loved ones.
“We are worried to death”, “We haven’t heard from him since he went to see the fireworks”, were some of the messages.
A German journalist who witnessed the Nice attack said he saw a motorcyclist chase the killer truck and try to enter the cabin but fall and end up under the wheels.
Richard Gutjahr, 42, who shot smartphone video footage of the attack gave this graphic account to AFP:
“I stood on the balcony, right on the Promenade des Anglais, and saw how people celebrated there, and how suddenly a truck drove through the crowd.
“Surprisingly, he drove very slowly, not fast, he drove slowly and he was chased by a motorcyclist.
“The motorcyclist attempted to overtake the truck and even tried to open the driver’s door, but he fell and ended up under the wheels of the truck.
“Then the driver stepped on the accelerator and the truck sped up, accelerated and drove in a zigzag course into the crowd.
“In the next 15 to 20 seconds there were shots from several guns. I don’t know who shot at whom.
“The panicked crowd ran in all directions. Those who could save themselves ran into the hotels, or sought security in the hotel entrances.
“Right afterwards I personally saw 12 dead bodies, and it was already clear there would be more.”
Updated
The dead suspect came from the Tunisian town of Msaken and was not known to hold radical Islamist views, Tunisian security sources have told Reuters.
The man, identified by French police sources as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was not known to the Tunisian authorities.
Bouhlel was married with three children, they said. The sources did not say when he had last been resident in Tunisia, but said he last visited Msaken four years ago.
Updated
British Airways will allow passengers to fly to Nice on different dates or change destinations following the Bastille Day attack on the Riviera resort that has left at least 84 people dead.
A spokeswoman for BA said: “Following the tragic events in Nice we are contacting customers to give our support and offer to change their flight if they wish. We’d encourage customers in Nice to get in touch with us if they want to make a change to their booking and we will do everything we can to help.
“For customers booked to travel to Nice in the next few days we are offering to change their booking to an alternative date or destination. We’ll continue to be as flexible as possible to help our customers. Our deepest sympathies are with the loved ones of the victims.”
What we know so far
The attack
- A large truck ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice at about 11pm local time on Thursday. At least 84 people were killed, including several children. A further 18 were seriously injured.
-
Witnesses said the driver swerved from side to side to apparently kill as many people as possible as he drove at about 30mph for just over a mile along the Promenade des Anglais on the seafront. One witness said the driver fired a gun at police before they killed him.
- Two Americans, Sean Copeland and his son Brodie, from Texas, have been named among the 84 victims. Another victim has named by her son as Fatima Charrihi. He said she “followed a moderate Islam”.
- Witnesses told of parents frantically throwing their children over fences to avoid them being struck by the lorry as people rushed down the promenade.
The suspect
- Police shot the driver of the truck dead. Investigators are trying to determine if he had accomplices. The incident is being treated as a terrorist attack, but no group has claimed responsibility.
- The police have named the suspect as 31-year-old French Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, after his identity papers were found in the truck. Police investigators and forensic experts entered his apartment around 9.30am (0730 GMT) with an armed police intervention unit in support, and brought out bags of material later.
- French media reported that the killer was known to police for petty crime, and was not on any terrorist watchlist.
- Nice’s regional president, Christian Estrosi, said guns and grenades, some of them fake, were found in the lorry.
French government response
- The French president, François Hollande, said the country’s state of emergency would be extended for another three months. He said the country’s borders were being tightened, and vowed that France would show “real force and military action in Syria and Iraq”.
- Hollande also announced three days of national mourning starting on Saturday.
- A military operation is in place allowing the mobilisation of 10,000 troops.
- The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said: “We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent.”
- The prime minister, Manuel Valls, said: “Terrorism is a threat that is weighing heavily on France. Times have changed and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm.”
- Later, Hollande arrived in Nice to chair an emergency security and defence meeting in Nice with Valls and Cazeneuve.
- The Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, has used the attack to score political points against the French government’s response to terrorism. “Nothing that we have proposed has been put in place,” she said.
International response
- World leaders including Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Xi Jinping and Mariano Rajoy, have condemned the attack.
- Germany and Italy have ordered tighter border controls with France.
- The attacks have also been condemned by religious and political leaders across the Muslim and Arab world. The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, described it as a “vile terrorist attack”. Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit denounced the “craven terrorist attack”.
Britain’s response
- Britain’s new prime minister, Theresa May, said: “The United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with France, as we have done so often in the past. If, as we fear, this was a terrorist attack, then we must redouble our efforts to defeat these brutal murderers who want to destroy our way of life.”
- A small number of British citizens are known to be among the injured. Britain’s ambassador to France has travelled to Nice as officials offer help to anyone caught up in the attack.
- The National Police Chiefs’ Council has ordered a security review of all major events in Britain over the next seven days. Britain’s deputy national security adviser has chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has announced he will be reviewing safety measures in the UK capital.
Updated
Suspect named
The police have named the suspect as 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, after his identity papers were found in the truck, AFP reports.
Neighbours portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not even return greetings when their paths crossed in the four-storey block, located in a working-class neighbourhood of Nice.
Sebastien, a neighbour who spoke on condition that his full name was not used, said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel did not seem overtly religious, often dressed in shorts and sometimes wore work boots.
He had a van parked nearby and owned a bike, which he brought up into his first-floor apartment.
Of those who were interviewed, only one, a neighbour on the ground floor, said she had had any concerns about him - he was “a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye.”
Police investigators and forensic experts entered his apartment around 9.30am (0730 GMT) with an armed police intervention unit in support, and brought out bags of material later.
A source close to the investigation said an “inactive” grenade was found inside the vehicle, as well as “several fake rifles.”
“Investigations are currently underway to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled,” interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said.
L'appartement du terroriste présumé de Nice passé au peigne fin ce matin pic.twitter.com/n6Qp15NmIA
— Catherine Marciano (@clmarciano) July 15, 2016
Small number of British citizens injured
A small number of British nationals have been injured in the Nice attack, Downing Street has said.
Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, said earlier that one UK citizen was hurt but the government is now aware of more than one casualty. It was confirmed after an emergency Cobra meeting of officials, which took place on Friday morning involving staff from the intelligence agencies, Foreign Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Met police, Department for Transport and the British embassy in Paris.
A UK consular team of eight, including the British ambassador, has already been sent to Nice and further four are on their way. Britain has offered investigative support and to continue close cooperation on intelligence.
After the Cobra meeting, No 10 confirmed the threat level to the UK remains at severe and police are reviewing security around large public events due to take place this summer.
“It is the prudent, cautious, right thing to do in this situation,” May’s official spokeswoman said.
Updated
Here’s video of Theresa May making her statement:
One of the victims has been named as Fatima Charrihi. Her son, Hamza, told l’Express magazine: “She wore the veil, followed a moderate Islam. Real Islam. Not that of the terrorists.”
Hamza and his father were at the Mediterranean University Centre, transformed into one of the refuge centres for relatives of the victims. Fatima Charrihi had died a few hours before.
Security at major British events to be reviewed
The National Police Chief’s Council has ordered a security review of all major events in Britain over the next seven days.
In a statement Neil Basu, National Operational Lead for Protect and Prepare, said: “As I have following previous terrorist incidents, today I have asked all forces to review major events over the next seven days to ensure the appropriate security is in place.”
It added: “Our counter terrorism officers will do whatever we can to support our French counterparts in the days and weeks that follow as the investigation unfolds.
“UK policing continues to operate at a heightened state against the backdrop of a severe threat level - that level has been in place since 2014.
“Our policing tactics and security measures are constantly reviewed and we, along with our partners, are working around the clock to keep our cities as safe as can be.”
Updated
The use of a truck as a weapon is new, writes Jason Burke.
French authorities – like counterparts around the world – have learned that the most lethal attacks in their country have been perpetrated by individuals or networks with connections to outside organisations.
Mohamed Merah, who killed seven in a shooting spree in 2012, was initially described as a lone wolf but found to be connected to a breakaway al-Qaida faction. Those who attacked Charlie Hebdo magazine last year had a tenuous link to al-Qaida in Yemen. The more recent strikes, including those in November last year and in Belgium in March, involved a well-established network linked to Isis.
Even now, amid the terrible grief and chaos of the aftermath of this latest tragedy, security services in France, around Europe and beyond will have the clinical work of tracing out the killer’s background and connections well under way.
AFP has spoken to several neighbours of the suspected driver. They describe him as solitary and quiet, who always took his bike up to his apartment.
One neighbour said he did not seem to be a religious person and often wore shorts. A family in the four-story building said he never returned their greetings.
One woman on the ground floor was suspicious of him because of the way he stared at her two daughters. Police were searching the man’s apartment.
Updated
Germany has joined Italy in tightening its borders with France.
Germany’s federal police said: “In coordination with the French security authorities the federal police are strengthening their control in the area of cross-border traffic into France.”
Fifty-eight-year-old Tim Baker is just one of many donating blood to help the victims of yesterday’s attack. “By the time the EFS’ (the French National Blood Service) Nice office opened at 9.30am this morning, there were already over a hundred people queuing,” he said.
“There were nearly 400 by the time it was announced that blood supplies for all the victims were assured for the short term. With so many trying to donate we were asked to return in the coming weeks.”
A dual Australian and French citizen, Baker used to run the consular services section at the Australian embassy in Paris before moving to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, just outside Nice. “I’ve been waiting for over two hours and I think I might have another 45 minutes more to wait. My son spent last night checking on the welfare of his friends. All but two have been accounted for thus far.
“For anyone asking what a typical blood donor looks like in Nice, they just need to look at those walking along the streets of this diverse port city. Every age group, income level and race is present. If France is to combat both terrorism and the calls of the extreme right, it will need to rely on the diversity and solidarity of its citizens.”
If you are in Nice you can share your witness accounts, photos and videos or news tips direct with our journalists by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button in the live blog.
You can also fill in our form or contact us on WhatsApp on +447867825056.
Please think about your security first though when recording and sharing your content.
Updated
The Guardian has horrific mobile phone footage of the attack.
French president François Hollande has arrived in Nice where he is about to hold a meeting with security officials. The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, and interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve are also at the meeting.
Updated
The Nice attacks have been condemned, by religious and political leaders across the Muslim and Arab world on Arabic-language and English social media.
Egypt’s Grand Mufti lambasted “saboteurs who follow Satan (who will) be damned in this life & in the hereafter.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by the popular Saudi cleric, Sheikh Salman al-Auda, who said the killer would be cursed by “god, his angels and all human beings.” His remarks came after many comments on social media attacked Muslims.
Egypt’s Al-Azhar university, Sunni Islam’s leading centre of learning, said that the “vile terrorist attack” contradicted Islam and called for “uniting efforts to defeat terrorism and rid the world of its evil.”
Tunisia said that the attacker, who police said held joint French-Tunisian citizenship, had committed an act of “extreme cowardice” and expressed solidarity with France against the “scourge of terrorism”.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours issued a joint statement saying that they “strongly” condemned the “terrorist” act in Nice. “The Gulf Cooperation Council states stand in solidarity with the French republic following this cowardly criminal incident whose perpetrators have been stripped of all moral and human values,” the bloc’s secretary general, Abdullatif al-Zayani, said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned “in the strongest terms the vile terrorist attack”, his office said.
Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit denounced the “craven terrorist attack”, according to his spokesman.
Here’s the full text of Theresa May’s statement:
“I am shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice last night. Our hearts go out to the French people and to all those who’ve lost loved ones or been injured.
“While the full picture is still emerging, it seems that at least 80 people are feared dead and many others have been injured. These were innocent victims enjoying a national celebration with their friends and families.
“We are working urgently to establish whether any British nationals were caught up in the attack. Our ambassador is travelling to Nice today with consular staff and they will be doing all they can to help anyone affected.
“I have asked my deputy national security adviser to chair a Cobra meeting of senior officials, to review what we know and what we can do to help, and I will speak to President Hollande today and make clear that the United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with France today, as we have done so often in the past.
“If, as we fear, this was a terrorist attack, then we must redouble our efforts to defeat these brutal murderers who want to destroy our way of life. We must work with France and our partners around the world to stand up for our values and for our freedom.”
I am shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice last night. Our hearts go out to the French people: https://t.co/xd0arcO72R
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 15, 2016
Updated
Photograph: Ronald Zak/AP
The Front National leader, Marine le Pen, has used the attack to score political points against the French government’s response to terrorism.
Speaking to Le Figaro, she said:
“Nothing that we have proposed has been put in place. Considering the new nature of terrorism, which is now a terrorism of opportunity, that’s to say without hierarchical structure, the urgency is to attack the ideology on which this terrorism is based.
“And in this space, nothing has been done, absolutely nothing – no reintroduction of double punishment, nor depriving people of nationality, nor the closure of Salafist mosques … nor the banning of certain organisations. In truth, we are not at war. For the moment, we are in a war of words.”
Updated
A label on the side of the truck suggests it was hired from Via Location.
An employee for the company said she could not discuss the matter, citing an instruction from the interior ministry.
“We can give you no information,” she said. “The ministry of the interior has barred us … asked us not to give any information on the vehicle or the driver. So I am sorry, but I can’t answer your questions.”
Updated
The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, and interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, have arrived in Nice. They are about to greet President François Hollande at the airport.
Updated
Theresa May has said Britain stands “shoulder to shoulder” with France.
She also insisted Britain must redouble its efforts to defeat “brutal” terrorist murderers.
She could not confirm Boris Johnson’s report that a British citizen was among the injured.
Updated
Britain's emergency committee to meet
Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, has said Britain must redouble its efforts to defeat “brutal” terrorist “murderers” after the “horrifying” attack in Nice.
She also called a meeting of senior officials in the government’s emergency Cobra committee.
Updated
People who were on the promenade last night have been getting in touch with us.
Maciej is studying French in Nice. He said: “I watched the fireworks with a friend and right after they ended, we went to a nearby store to get something to drink. As we were heading back to enjoy our drinks on the beach, which is located just below the boulevard, we were slowed by the crowd of people leaving the area. Suddenly, just a few feet in front of us, we saw the big white truck driving at a high speed on the sidewalk still thick with spectators.
“We could hear the sound of the truck hitting people, like empty thuds ... people started to run away in panic … As I was walking to my residence, I saw people in the streets sobbing, some of them on their phones with despair in their voices, some of them being led by others … I am enrolled in a language course here in Nice and the staff were going door-to-door this morning to account for the people who start their classes in the afternoon today.”
While at a bar in the Old Town, Anne Morris said she saw people fleeing from the promenade. “Hundreds of people were running past the bar,” she said. “We had no 3G/4G access so no one knew what had happened. The bar closed and we took the back streets home as we had been told to avoid the promenade. I got my first text en route telling me what had happened. Terribly sad today.”
Chris, from Edinburgh, is on her way home with her partner after being on holiday in Nice since Monday. They were watching the fireworks last night before heading into the Old Town. “We decided to get ice cream,” she said. “Everything seemed fine although with hindsight it seemed a bit odd that there were cars trying to desperately get through the crowds. There was one car beeping at everyone telling them to move – we just thought the driver was being rude.
“Suddenly we saw hundreds of people running. Some on their phones, some screaming, all coming from the direction of the sea. It was mass panic and it was horrifying and no one seemed to know what was happening, they just ran.”
If you are in Nice you can share your witness accounts, photos and videos or news tips direct with our journalists by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button in the live blog.
You can also fill in our form or contact us on WhatsApp on +447867825056.
Please think about your security first though when recording and sharing your content.
Updated
Angelique Chrisafis has just filed this from Nice:
From a back street behind Nice’s palm-fringed seafront promenade, the large white goods lorry which was used to kill 84 people during the attack on the Bastille Day fireworks crowd was visible from a distance, behind the police cordon.
The cab, its windscreen pockmarked with bullet holes and its front buckled from the crash impact, remained the side of the road as police in the morning heat continued to work at the scene of the carnage.
On the street, Piero Bianculli, 37, an Italian musician who grew up in Nice, said he had been at his stepfather’s apartment on the beachfront watching the fireworks display from the balcony when the lorry hit.
“We had been invited over to watch the fireworks because he had such a beautiful view of the sea,” Bianculli said. “Suddenly we saw people in the street running and screaming, we thought it was a false alarm or some sort of joke, but when I looked to the right I saw bodies flying in the air, and people thrown to the ground who didn’t get up.
“I took my binoculars and looked all the way up the promenade, and saw dead bodies lying scattered where they had fallen, bleeding. There was blood streaming across the street. Police began running to the scene and we heard gun shots. I saw the first news reports saying there were 10 to 15 dead and I knew that I had counted many, many more bodies than that.”
He said: “We pushed our 10-year-old son inside off the balcony, afraid there could be stray shots. If we hadn’t been invited to watch the fireworks from the balcony, we would have no doubt been on the seafront ourselves with family and children. It feels shocking and very, very sad.”
Updated
France’s ambassador to London, Sylvie Bermann, has just given a press conference on the steps of the French embassy.
“All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of the victims,” she said.
Bermann thanked the UK government for its messages of solidarity and pointed out that the new foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, was at the embassy yesterday to celebrate Bastille Day.
“The 14th of July is a very symbolic day. It is a symbol of liberté, egalité and fraternité. And I think that is what terrorists want to fight.”
She gave the following telephone number for British people to call if they are concerned about loved ones in Nice: 00 33 43 17 56 46.
“France is a strong country, it is resilient country, it is united country,” she said. “We are determined to fight against terrorism. And we will be stronger than terrorists.”
Updated
French prosecutors are due to hold a press conference at 5pm local time.
#Nice Le procureur de Paris François Molins tiendra une conférence de presse à Nice à 17H00 (parquet) #AFP
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) July 15, 2016
Updated
Nice had undertaken extensive preparations, coordinated by the interior ministry, in case of a terrorist attack, Le Monde reports.
A meeting took place on 5 February involving the local authorities of the Alpes-Maritimes department and the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve. It was in preparation for the Nice carnival – the third largest in the world, after Rio and Venice – and the four Euro 2016 football matches scheduled for the city.
The carnival, attended by about 1 million people, posed the first big test. Around 400 local police and 1,400 members of the national security forces were deployed in the department. A simulation exercise took place on 8 March in readiness for the Euro 16 tournament. In case of a major attack, the injured would be evacuated to hospitals in Cannes, Monaco and Marseille if needed, as well as Nice.
All contingencies were planned for, including nuclear attack, radiological, bacteriological and chemical attacks, François-Xavier Lauch, the sub-prefect of Alpes-Maritimes told Le Monde at the time. Particular attention was given to the possibility of an attack from the sea, which was the case in the assault against hotels in Mumbai in 2008.
Updated
A massive police operation is under way to establish whether a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin acted alone or with accomplices in his attack on Bastille Day celebrations in Nice.
According to police sources and French media reports, the refrigerated truck used in the attack, which killed at least 84 people and injured hundreds more when it drove into crowds on the city’s Promenade des Anglais, was rented two days ago in nearby Saint-Laurent-du-Var.
The driver was shot dead in the truck after reportedly opening fire with a pistol on police who had surrounded the vehicle. Among items recovered from inside were an identity card, mobile phone and bank card, all linked to the driver.
He was formally identified by police on Friday morning as they launched a series of coordinated operations across the city.
The attacker, a 31-year-old Tunisian-born Frenchman who lived in Nice, was known to the police for common crimes – including violence – but not to the intelligence services, a police source said.
On Friday morning, police forensics officers were combing through the truck, which remained where it stopped, its front badly damaged and riddled with bullet holes, and its tyres burst.
Dramatic details emerged on Friday over how a member of the crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the seaside promenade had tried to stop the lorry just before the driver was shot dead.
“Someone in the crowd jumped on the lorry to try and stop it,” said Eroic Ciotti on Europe 1. “It was at that moment that the police were able to stop the terrorist. He had fired on the police without hitting them and on the person who tried to stop him.”
A witness called Nader told BFM television he had seen the whole attack from start to finish, and had initially thought the driver had lost control.
“He stopped just in front of me after he [crushed] a lot of people. I saw a guy in the street, we were trying to speak to the driver to get him to stop. He looked nervous. There was a girl under the car, he smashed her. The guy next to me pulled her out.”
Nader said he saw the driver pull out a gun and start shooting at police. “They killed him and his head was out the window.”
Updated
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has announced he will be reviewing safety measures in the UK capital following the attack in Nice, the Press Association reports.
He declared that London would “stand united” with France and insisted the “poisonous and twisted” terrorists would be defeated.
Speaking on a visit to Gatwick airport, Khan said: “I will reassure all Londoners that today we will be reviewing our own safety measures in light of this attack and that I and the Metropolitan police commissioner will do everything possible to keep Londoners safe.”
Updated
Nice-Matin is reporting that police are carrying out a raid on the home of the driver in the Abattoirs area of Nice.
Une perquisition en cours au domicile du chauffeur dans le quartier des Abattoirs https://t.co/m0GJEUosT9 #AttentatNice
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 15, 2016
Two Americans have been named as among the 84 victims, according to unconfirmed reports. They were were Sean Copeland and his son Brodie, from Texas, a relative told BuzzFeed.
Americans Sean Copeland and his son Brodie died in the #NiceFrance terrorist attack, a relative tells BuzzFeed News pic.twitter.com/qddMTFZmg6
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) July 15, 2016
Nice-Matin reports that 54 children were admitted to the Lenval hospital on Thursday night.
Selon nos informations, 54 enfants ont été admis à l'hôpital Lenval depuis jeudi soir https://t.co/yLZvIMAIvF
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 15, 2016
Updated
Three days of national mourning
The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, says there will be three days of national mourning starting on Saturday. Speaking in Paris before heading to Nice, Valls said: “Terrorism is a threat that is weighing heavily on France.”
According to a BBC translation, he said: “We are facing a war that terrorism has started against us. The objective of the terrorists is to instil fear and panic. France will not allow itself to be destabilised.”
He added: “Times have changed and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm. France has been hit in its soul on 14 July, our national day. They wanted to attack the unity of the French nation. The only dignified response is that France will remain loyal to the spirit of 14 July and its values.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office is now in charge of the investigation, Valls added.
"Le président @fhollande a déclaré un deuil national pour les 16, 17 et 18 juillet. Les drapeaux seront mis en berne" @manuelvalls #Nice
— Élysée (@Elysee) July 15, 2016
Updated
A Downing Street spokesman said:
“The prime minister is being kept updated on reports coming in from Nice.
“We are shocked and concerned by the scenes there. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this terrible incident on what was a day of national celebration.
“The [Foreign Office] are in touch with the local authorities to seek more information and we stand ready to help any British nationals and to support our French partners.”
Updated
One British citizen injured
Britain’s new foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has confirmed that one British citizen was injured in the attack.
Speaking to reporters outside his home, Johnson said the attack was “an absolutely appalling incident”.
“I think there will be ministerial meetings later on today to discuss the implications for this country if any. I don’t at this time know any read across or implications for the UK.
“If this is a terrorist incident, as it appears to be, this represents a continuing threat, to us in the whole of Europe and we must meet it together.
“The only information that I have is that there is one UK national who is injured.”
Updated
The Vatican has joined international condemnation of the attack.
Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said:
Throughout the night we have followed with great concern the terrible news from Nice. On behalf of Pope Francis, we join in solidarity with the suffering of the victims and of the entire French people this day that should have been a great holiday. We condemn in the strongest way every demonstration of senseless violence, of hatred, terrorism and any attack against peace.
Updated
The latest stage of the Tour de France is going ahead today after a minute’s silence was held for the victims of the Nice attack.
Minute de silence au départ / Minute of silence at the start this morning #PrayForNice pic.twitter.com/FMihoxKNUZ
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 15, 2016
The race director, Christian Prudhomme, told reporters that there would also be a minute’s silence at the end of today’s stage.
Prudhomme; 'the stage goes ahead, the Tour will continue in dignity, we will not give in to people who want to change our way of life'
— Jeremy Whittle (@jeremycwhittle) July 15, 2016
Prudhomme visibly moved: minute's silence also at the finish with all the classification leaders
— Jeremy Whittle (@jeremycwhittle) July 15, 2016
Updated
The seafront, usually packed with tourists setting up for a day at the beach in Nice, was tragically silent this morning, writes Sofia Fischer.
Windows were shut tight and all cafes and convenience stores remained closed for the day, as residents remained inside their homes. The few who ventured outside to walk their dogs did so silently, sometimes hugging their neighbours as they met.
At every street corner, huddles of tourists sat on their luggage as the sun rose, waiting for taxis to take them to the airport. Among them was Julie Holland, a US citizen on holiday with her two daughters, who had booked flights back to Orlando. She said they were having dinner last night when the truck drove at full speed through the crowds on the esplanade.
“We heard screams, and people started running into the restaurant,” she said. “We hid in the kitchen, behind a stove.
“As soon as the gunfire stopped we went through the back door to a hotel down the street. A policeman eventually escorted us back to our hotel at around 3am. There were bodies everywhere. My daughters saw bodies. Lots of them.”
Further down the road, Marc, the caretaker of a building near the seafront, was sitting on his porch, fighting back tears. He said was walking home after the fireworks when panic broke out on the esplanade. “There were people screaming, families, bodies everywhere.”
He nodded to a man pacing up and down the street, crying on the phone. “He was with his kids last night. They barely made it. He hasn’t hung up the phone since yesterday. He’s still trying to figure out what the hell happened.”
The Promenade des Anglais has been cordoned off since the events. Police had been posted at every entry and forensic teams were examining the bodies. Behind the barricades, the debris of glass, fallen candyfloss stands and survival blankets lay as testimony to the chaos of the previous night.
A man in a white blanket, haggard and dazed, limped down the street as neighbours tried to hold him up. “He’s lost his whole family,” said an elderly woman, crying behind her sunglasses.
An Italian man living in Nice, Marco Barsotti, who was watching the fireworks with his girlfriend on the beach the previous night, was pacing on the street hanging on to his phone.
He said: “When the fireworks stopped, we climbed back up on to the street. All of a sudden, people started running everywhere, we saw the truck whizz past us, so we jumped back on to the beach to protect ourselves. People kept falling on our heads because they were running towards the sea and didn’t see the gap.”
It was only when the couple tried to cross the street back to their seafront apartment that they saw the carnage. “There was a dozen bodies around us.” Barsotti took out his phone and started filming; the timestamp reads 10.46pm.
In front of the Mediterranean University Centre, where emergency psychological help was being offered to witnesses and victims with non life-threatening injuries, men and women sat smoking in silence.
A man was hitting his head against a barricade before a firefighter escorted him inside the building. Everywhere there were looks of shock, horror and consternation.
Paul, a seafront resident, said he watched families last night try to cross the street where bodies lay. “I saw a mother covering her child’s eyes, telling him to keep them tightly shut. The dad had a toddler in his arms and had buried his face in his T-shirt for him not to see anything.”
Their upstairs neighbour Mary-Jeanne Theuma also witnessed the attack. “I left Algeria to flee this. It’s come back to haunt me,” she said.
Updated
What we know so far
- A large truck ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice at about 11pm local time on Thursday. At least 84 people were killed, including several children. A further 18 were seriously injured.
- The driver of the truck was shot dead by police. Investigators are trying to determine if he had accomplices. The incident is being treated as a terrorist attack, but no group has claimed responsibility.
- Witnesses said the driver swerved from side to side to apparently kill as many people as possible as he drove at about 50kmh for 2km along the Promenade des Anglais on the seafront. One witness said the driver fired a gun at police before they killed him.
- French media reported that the killer was known to police for petty crime, and was not on any terrorist watchlist. A police source told Reuters that the driver was was a 31-year-old Tunisian-born Frenchman.
- Nice’s regional president, Christian Estrosi, said guns and grenades, some of them fake, were found in the lorry. A military operation is in place allowing the mobilisation of 10,000 troops.
- The French president, François Hollande, said the country’s state of emergency would be extended for another three months. He said the country’s borders were being tightened, and vowed that France would show “real force and military action in Syria and Iraq”.
- Witnesses told of parents frantically throwing their children over fences to avoid them being struck by the lorry as people rushed down the promenade.
- The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said: “We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent.” The prime minister, Manuel Valls, said the country was in “immense pain”.
- Hollande has been chairing an emergency security and defence meeting. He will then head to Nice with Valls. Cazeneuve is in Nice.
- World leaders including Barack Obama, Theresa May, Angela Merkel, Xi Jinping and Mariano Rajoy have condemned the attack.
Updated
You can share your witness accounts, photos and videos or news tips direct with our journalists by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button in the live blog.
You can also fill in our form or contact us on WhatsApp on +447867825056.
Please think about your security first when recording and sharing your content.
Updated
The incident is being widely described as a “terrorist” attack, but the motive of the driver is not known.
The driver, a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian, was known to the police but not the intelligence services, a police source told Reuters.
Extremist expert Charlie Winter, a senior research associate at Georgia State University, points out that Islamic State has not issued any statement on Nice so far.
For the avoidance of any doubt: #IS has not issued any official communications regarding #Nice.
— Charlie Winter (@charliewinter) July 15, 2016
Islamic State supporters have been “celebrating” the attack on social media, according to the Site monitoring group.
IS Supporters Celebrate Attack in Nice: “They Brought This to Themselves” https://t.co/FKntUlacXh
— SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) July 15, 2016
Updated
Spain’s acting prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has just addressed the country in the wake of the Nice attack. He said:
“I want to express the Spanish government’s condolences following last night’s brutal terrorist attack in Nice. Today, we feel the immense pain that afflicts our neighbours as if it were our own. It’s a pain that all good people feel as potential victims of barbarity, senselessness and the most absolute disregard for human life. I’d like to reiterate once again our loyal and sincere commitment to our French neighbours, partners, allies and friends.
“Spain will give its full cooperation to France to help find, pursue and punish terrorists and those who support and protect them. We know that no one is completely safe from atrocities like last night’s, which, until recently, would have been unimaginable. We are facing a global threat that demands a global and integrated response. And Spain, which has suffered deeply from terrorism, is present and active in that global response.”
Rajoy said there was no evidence that any of the victims was Spanish.
Updated
This from my colleague Oliver Duggan:
There have been 12 terror attacks in the EU since July 2012. Seven of them in France, killing 244 - five times more than rest combined #Nice
— Oliver Duggan (@OliDuggan) July 15, 2016
He also notes that it is the funeral of the British Labour MP Jo Cox today. Her husband, Brendan, tweeted that he was “thinking of all victims of hatred” today.
Jo wld ask us not 2 fight hate with hate but draw together 2 drain the swamp that extremism breeds in.Thinking of all victims of hatred 2day
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) July 15, 2016
Updated
The whole esplanade is on lockdown and the streets are empty after people were advised to stay home, Sophie Fischer writes from Nice.
Police are patrolling every entry to the promenade and are refusing passage to everyone, including journalists. Employees of the hotels on the promenade are having trouble getting to work and are being searched. All we can see on the streets are tourists hurrying back to the airport, and a couple of witnesses wrapped in blankets, shaking their heads and crying.
A caretaker of a building on the promenade was crying in front of the entry after witnessing the attack. “There were bodies everywhere. Children, mothers. A guy from the building almost lost his kids. I still don’t understand,” he said.
At the Mediterranean University Centre, where emergency psychological support is being given to witnesses, people are bundled up in blankets outside, some of them covered in blood or bandages. Rescue teams are evacuating them to a location further away from the scene.
Updated
The Spectator assistant editor Isabel Hardman was walking back from watching the fireworks when the attack occurred.
“Nobody knew what they were running from,” she says.
Updated
Labour leadership candidate, Owen Smith, has cancelled a planned campaign launch today.
In light of the heartbreaking news from Nice, I am cancelling today's campaign launch. Solidarité et fraternité avec le peuple Français.
— Owen Smith (@OwenSmith_MP) July 15, 2016
Updated
The French front pages this morning
"L'horreur, à nouveau" La une de la dernière édition de @Le_Figaro #Nice #attentat pic.twitter.com/GjB9Dqz5ET
— Alexis Brézet (@abrezet) July 15, 2016
La une de Nice-Matin du vendredi 15 juillet : carnage à Nice, neuf pages spéciales #Nice06 pic.twitter.com/5ifSQPClyI
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 15, 2016
#Nice06 : @laprovence consacre dans son éd. de #Marseille une double page événement au drame https://t.co/SJuyiaSl7O pic.twitter.com/TROQFo7Ot9
— La Provence (@laprovence) July 15, 2016
La Une du @lesoir ce vendredi 15 juillet: "L'horreur à #Nice" https://t.co/cwwapndmZo pic.twitter.com/9wfZoSg4fZ
— Le Soir (@lesoir) July 14, 2016
#Nice Portada de @le_Parisien pic.twitter.com/Sr7UHooaYK
— Sara Lacalle (@saralacalle) July 14, 2016
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has made a statement about Nice on Facebook, expressing condolences but also complaining that the west should focus on real threats from terrorism and not on “hybrid” threats. (Russia’s war in Ukraine has been described as a “hybrid war”)
Let’s not fight with ‘hybrid threats’ but with real ones. Let’s do it together, because we are all the same when we die at the hands of terrorists and extremists. It’s time to smooth over our differences before this kind of tragedy, and not only afterwards.
The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently in Mongolia, wrote on Facebook that the international community should use force to combat terrorism:
“Terrorism knows no borders and is a common challenge for both Europe and Asia. Together we must look for a response to challenges like this, demonstrate solidarity, and make every effort to fight terrorism. Force is all terrorists and their sponsors understand, and that is what we must use.”
Updated
Italy has tightened border controls at three road crossings into France and at the Ventimiglia train link between the two countries. The Italian interior minister, Angelino Alfano, tweeted: “Our security apparatus is at work.” He also said he was due to get a counter-terrorism briefing later this morning.
Rafforzati controlli ai tre valichi terrestri e a quello ferroviario #Ventimiglia. I nostri apparati di sicurezza sono al lavoro. #Nizza
— Angelino Alfano (@angealfa) July 14, 2016
Ho convocato per domattina alle 9 al Viminale il Comitato Analisi Strategica Antiterrorismo #Nizza
— Angelino Alfano (@angealfa) July 14, 2016
Updated
There has been swift and widespread international condemnation.
The United Nations security council said it “condemned in the strongest terms the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack”.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, called it an “appalling” attack in Nice amid reports that at two Chinese citizens were among the injured. According to the People’s Daily, the Communist party’s mouthpiece, Xi Jinping has told François Hollande that China is “against all forms of terrorism [and is] willing to deepen co-operation with France to counter-terrorism”.
Here’s a sample of more reaction from other world leaders:
My deepest condolences to France, those who suffered in this heinous act of terror in Nice and families of victims https://t.co/OiafU5zfKh
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 15, 2016
#AttentatNice is an attack on us all. An attack on democracy & human rights. Denmark is with France and the victims' families in the sorrow
— Lars Løkke Rasmussen (@larsloekke) July 15, 2016
#ASEM11 plénière: "Vive la #France et sa République qui aujourd'hui est aussi la nôtre." #Nice06 pic.twitter.com/JSH0XMKm31
— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) July 15, 2016
Prime Minister Trudeau extends his deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed in Nice, France: https://t.co/rCNZncJFvA
— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) July 15, 2016
Toutes mes pensées pour les victimes de l'attentat ignoble et lâche de #Nice. Solidarité avec la #France.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) July 15, 2016
My deepest condolences to the victims of the attack in Nice and their families. We stand together with France to end these acts of terror.
— Erna Solberg (@erna_solberg) July 15, 2016
Updated
Witnesses have continued to described horrific scenes. Wassim Bouhel told the French TV channel iTele that the lorry zigzagged across the road.
“We almost died. It was like hallucinating ... (the lorry) zigzagged - you had no idea where it was going. My wife ... a metre away ... she was dead. The lorry ripped through everything ... poles, trees. We have never seen anything like it. Some people were hanging on the door and tried to stop it.”
Lucy Nesbitt-Comaskey told Sky News that the noise of gunfire “sounded like Beirut”. She said:
“It was shocking, it was devastating and I cannot believe that I have come over here for a few days and I have got mixed up in something so tragic. It was just awful. I said to my friend ‘This doesn’t sound like fireworks, it sounds like Beirut when it’s under fire’. All of a sudden people were screaming in the streets and running into all the restaurants. All the restaurants were open and people were coming. We were just sitting there and everyone came into our restaurant and the owners were saying ‘Please don’t go anywhere, come in, come in’.
Briton Will Shaw told BBC Radio 4:
“It was quite chaotic really. There was a lot of people screaming, running around and people were kind of being pushed over, I think, from people just being so frightened about what was going on especially after hearing the gunshots. I had to help a couple of people up who were in distress on the floor because everyone was in such a panic.”
Updated
Social media users have reacted with horror to the attack, using the hashtags #Nice06, #prayforNice and #porteouverte (door open) to express their sorrow and solidarity.
There are no words for this madness. #Nice pic.twitter.com/MNkjqYW0bx
— Anissa Btn (@beautifultango7) July 15, 2016
Watching the news, horrific events in #Nice #France sad day pic.twitter.com/xzThRpTVQK
— Suki (@sukibhamra) July 15, 2016
So sad... #Nice06 🇫🇷😔🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/QmHHV84xVb
— Anaële (@AnaeleMd) July 15, 2016
Updated
Police source: driver was known to authorities
The gunman who killed at least 80 people when he drove a heavy truck into a crowd in Nice was a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian born in Tunisia, a police source close to the investigation has told Reuters news agency.
The man was not on the watchlist of French intelligence services but was known to police in connection with common law crimes such as theft and violence, the source said.
Updated
Death toll rises to 84
#BREAKING: Nice truck attack death toll rises to 84: interior ministry
— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016
Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has confirmed that three Australians are among the injured. They were fleeing the attack when they were hurt, she said.
Bishop: The overall level of advice for France hasn't changed. We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution #Nice
— Stephanie Anderson (@stephanieando) July 15, 2016
Updated
'I've never seen panic like it before'
A witness, John Curtis, has emailed from Nice to describe the chaos that unfolded when the attack took place.
We’re renting an apartment in Nice in rue Andrioli, about two or three hundred metres west of the [hotel] Negresco. We watched the fireworks sitting on a wall overlooking the beach.
There were thousands of people including lots of families with young children. When the fireworks were over we walked back along the the Promenade des Anglais. There were no cars and the wide dual-carriageway was completely taken over by pedestrians.
We crossed over to the landward side and had just reached the point where there was traffic again. On our side of the road, where the traffic was heading out of town, there was nose to tail traffic but the other side of the central reservation was traffic-free.
Suddenly on the other side of the road we could see a white truck driving very fast and swerving from side to side. I knew immediately that it was going to kill people and it was heading straight into the crowds. People started running towards the side streets.
I’ve never seen panic like it before. We were swept along by the crowd and we managed to get back to our apartment.
Updated
Children undergoing surgery
Laurence Marie from the Lenval paediatric hospital has told Reuters news agency that “many” children were undergoing serious operations there.
Updated
As dawn breaks on the Promenade des Anglais, many relatives of the missing are still searching for their loved ones.
Dawn revealed pools of dried blood, smashed children’s strollers, an uneaten baguette and other debris strewn about the promenade, according to Reuters.
What appeared to be bodies covered in blankets were visible between the gaps in security screens.
Updated
What we know so far
- A large truck has ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice at about 11pm local time.
- The crash, which left at least 80 people dead, including several children and 18 seriously injured, is being treated as a terrorist attack.
- The driver of the truck was shot dead by police. They are trying to determine if he had accomplices.
- Authorities said the man had been firing on the crowd and police as he drove, and that the truck was loaded with weapons and grenades. Unverified reports said the rifles were fake and the grenade was “inactive”.
- Witnesses said the driver was “zigzagging” so he could hit as many people as possible. It was reported that he drove into the crowd for 2km at a speed of about 50km/h.
- Some told of parents frantically throwing their children over fences to avoid them being struck by the lorry as a “stampede” of people rushed down the Promenade des Anglais.
- Unconfirmed reports in French media said an ID card belonging to a 31-year-old resident of Nice who had dual French-Tunisian nationality had been found in the truck.
- Reports said the driver was known to police, but not for terrorist-related activity.
- No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
- François Hollande, the French president, described the attack as a “monstrosity” and said soldiers would be deployed to support gendarmes and police, particularly at the country’s borders. He said the attack was “terrorist in nature” and vowed France would always be stronger than the fanatics that want to attack her.
- The country’s state of emergency, which was due to expire on 26 July, is to be extended for three months.
- The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said: “We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent.”
- The prime minister, Manuel Valls, said the country was in “immense pain”.
- Hollande is on his way to Paris from Avignon to chair an emergency security and defence meeting at 9am on Friday. He will then head to Nice with Valls. Cazeneuve is in Nice.
- World leaders including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have condemned the attack. Donald Trump has postponed the announcement of his running mate.
- Nice hospitals have launched an appeal for blood donations in the wake of the attack.
Updated
'Inactive grenade and fake rifles' found in truck
The truck driver who rammed his vehicle into a crowd in Nice fired a pistol several times before being shot dead by police, a local official has told Agence France-Presse.
“At the moment that he was shot dead by police, he had fired several times,” said the president of the region, Christian Estrosi.
A source close to the investigation said an “inactive” grenade was found inside the 19-tonne truck, as well as several fake rifles.
Updated
Driver known to police – reports
The French TV station BFM is reporting that the driver of the truck was known to police, but not for terrorism offences. The Guardian is not able to confirm the report at this stage.
Updated
Parents were throwing their children to safety
Witnesses have told of how parents threw their children over fences to safety as a “stampede” of people rushed down the Promenade des Anglais.
Ismali Khalidi, a US-Palestinian writer who was in the southern French city to visit his sister, told the Guardian: “I have never seen that level of chaos and hysteria and terror.”
Read more here:
Updated
The French illustrator @Louison_A has shared this image on Twitter.
Non. 💔 #Nice pic.twitter.com/ukaMCHJAmZ
— ✏️Louison✏️ (@Louison_A) July 15, 2016
Updated
Britain’s new foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has joined the politicians condemning the attack.
Shocked and saddened by the appalling events in Nice, and the terrible loss of life.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 15, 2016
Updated
A 'global failure' of French intelligence
After November’s Paris attacks, the French government put in place a state of emergency, which restricts civil liberties. It allows police to conduct searches without a warrant and place people under house arrest outside the normal legal process.
A French parliamentary investigation into last year’s terrorist attacks on Paris has identified multiple failings by France’s intelligence agencies.
The parliamentary commission was set up to assess the failure to prevent a series of attacks that killed a total of 147 people in 2015 – from January’s gun attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a kosher grocery store to the coordinated gun and bomb attacks on 13 November outside the national sports stadium, at bars and restaurants and at a rock gig at the Bataclan concert hall.
The commission highlighted a “global failure” of French intelligence and recommended a total overhaul of the intelligence services and the creation of a single, US-style national counter-terrorism agency.
Read the full report here:
Updated
Facebook activated its safety check after the attack in Nice.
It’s the third time in five weeks that the social network has deployed the tool, which lets Facebook users who are at or near the site of a natural disaster or terrorist attack inform their friends on the network that they are safe.
It was also used in the wake of the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and after the suicide bombings at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport.
Updated
Nice hospitals have launched an appeal for blood donations in the wake of the attacks.
#nice06 > Les hôpitaux lancent un appel aux dons de sang. L'EFS de Nice > 45 rue Auguste Gal à Nice ouvre à 9h30 https://t.co/Lixb3xuKea
— iTELE (@itele) July 15, 2016
Updated
The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, has tweeted: “The city of Nice has been hit by terrorism on the day of our national holiday. Immense pain, the country is in mourning. The French will face it.”
La ville de Nice frappée par le terrorisme le jour de notre Fête nationale. Immense douleur, le pays est en deuil. Les Français feront face.
— Manuel Valls (@manuelvalls) July 15, 2016
Updated
The British ambassador to France, Julian King, said the embassy’s crisis centre had been activated.
Thoughts with the victims and their families. Our Embassy crisis center has been activated. https://t.co/jtIxD8Nbqg
— Julian King (@JulianKingFCO) July 14, 2016
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are deeply concerned about reports of an incident in Nice and are in touch with the local authorities to seek more information.
“Our thoughts are with those affected and we stand by to help any British nationals.”
Updated
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has released a statement on the attacks:
Today’s horrendous attack in Nice is an attack against innocent people on a day that celebrates liberty, equality, and fraternity.
On behalf of all Americans, and especially the great many with close ties to France, I offer our deepest condolences to the friends and family of those who were killed and our hopes for a speedy recovery to those who were injured.
I was proud to stand alongside French leaders earlier today at Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, and the United States will continue to stand firmly with the French people during this time of tragedy. We will provide whatever support is needed.
Our embassy in Paris is making every effort to account for the welfare of US citizens in Nice. Any US citizens in Nice should contact friends and family directly to inform them of their wellbeing.
Updated
The UN has joined international condemnation of the attack, calling it “cowardly and barbaric”.
Conseil de sécurité uni contre attaque terroriste à Nice. Tous les membres sont solidaires des victimes & familles. pic.twitter.com/J3oaenEyvV
— La France à l'ONU (@franceonu) July 15, 2016
We mourn for the victims of another murderous act of terror in France overnight, on Bastille Day https://t.co/BZ18IJJaKb
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) July 15, 2016
Our hearts are breaking for the people of France, again. OPD stands with you & grieves with you. #Nice #BastilleDay pic.twitter.com/WcHYGcUxKx
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) July 14, 2016
European and Asian leaders pay respect to victims of #Nice attack. We stand united against violence and hatred pic.twitter.com/NU0IRhZd7H
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) July 15, 2016
Canadians are shocked by tonight's attack in Nice. Our sympathy is with the victims, and our solidarity with the French people.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 14, 2016
Updated
What we know so far
- A large truck has ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice.
- The crash, which left 80 people dead including several children and 18 seriously injured, is being treated as a terrorist attack.
- The driver of the truck was shot dead by police. They are trying to determine if he had accomplices.
- Authorities said the man had been firing on the crowd as he drove, and that the truck was loaded with weapons and grenades.
- Witnesses said the driver was “zigzagging” so he could hit as many people as possible. It was reported that he drove into the crowd for 2km at a speed of about 50km/h.
- Unconfirmed reports in French media said an ID card belonging to a 31-year-old resident of Nice who had dual French-Tunisian nationality had been found in the truck.
- No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
- François Hollande, the French president, described the attack as a “monstrosity” and said soldiers would be deployed to support gendarmes and police, particularly at the country’s borders. He said the attack was “terrorist in nature” and vowed France would always be stronger than the fanatics that want to attack her.
- The country’s state of emergency, which was due to expire on 26 July, is to be extended for three months.
- The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said: “We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent.”
- Hollande is on his way to Paris from Avignon to chair an emergency security and defence meeting at 9am on Friday. He will then head to Nice. Cazeneuve is in Nice.
- World leaders, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have condemned the attack. Donald Trump has postponed the announcement of his running mate.
Updated
François Hollande faces crisis as attacks continue
Hours after the Nice attacks, the French president, François Hollande, reiterated the war-like stance he took after the last terrorist attacks that killed 130 in Paris in November.
“All of France is under threat from Islamist terrorism,” he said, vowing that France would not give in in its “fight against terrorism”.
He said the state of emergency put in place in November — which allows police to conduct house raids and searches without a warrant or judicial oversight, and gives extra powers to officials to place people under house arrest — would be extended by three months. This means the state of emergency will have been in place for almost a year since November.
He also said he would boost the military operation, known as Operation Sentinelle, in which 10,000 soldiers keep guard across the country, and reservists would be drafted in to help security forces. Hollande added that he would reinforce air strikes on Iraq and Syria, where France has been fighting Islamic State.
The mood could not be more serious for Hollande. The fact that France could be attacked again — leaving at least 80 dead — only eight months after the devastating November attacks on Paris, threatens a crisis for Hollande’s presidency. The fact that several children were among the dead has deepened France’s horror and grief. In the coming days, there is likely to be intense political debate about intelligence and security policy. The 2017 French presidential election is nine months away and security had already been a key voter concern.
The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, in Nice, said: “We’re in a war with terrorists who want to hit us at any cost and in a very violent way.”
Hollande had this month been at record low popularity ratings. Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of the Front National, has been polling high is expected to reach the second round runoff of the presidential election, held in April and May. Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing Les Républicains party is engaged in a primary race to choose its candidate.
Updated
Chinese state media are reporting that two Chinese citizens are among those injured in Nice.
Speaking while on a visit to Mongolia, the Chinese prime minister, Li Keqiang, condemned “terrorism in all forms” and offered his condolences to the victims and their families.
Updated
I’ve just spoken to the US-Palestinian writer Ismail Khalidi, who was watching the Bastille Day fireworks at the Promenade des Anglais about 800 metres west of the Hotel Negresco.
Khalidi said he was with a group who were trying to leave the promenade after the fireworks to avoid the crowd, who he said already felt pushy and unsafe, when people began running toward them. It was about 10 minutes after the fireworks had finished:
All of a sudden we saw essentially a stampede of people coming along the Promenade des Anglais.
The stampede just sort of kept coming … we are talking families, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people.
Then all of a sudden the stampede started coming from the other direction.
Khalidi said people who had come from the scene of the attack said police had “told people to start running, without telling people why”.
I’ve never seen a stampede like that. I have never seen that level of chaos and hysteria and terror and a total lack of information about what’s going on.
Updated
Zena John, a British tourist on holiday in Nice with her sister, has described how the evening quickly changed from one of celebration to terror.
Tonight was an amazing, memorable atmosphere for us. We’d had a lovely meal just next to Rue Masséna.
We had just finished watching the fireworks and had scarcely returned to sit down when we saw people running and then I started hearing gunshots.
I shouted at my sister and friends to run but they were hesitant, trying to look and I shouted again.
We all ran down our side street and as we opened our gate, many people streamed in behind us. We could hear gunshots very very close.
We came in and many people came and waited on the ground floor of our flat till things calmed down.
We have a Polish lady sleeping in our flat right now as she lost her partner in the kerfuffle. Sad, sad day.
Updated
Interior minister: 'We are at war with terrorists'
Bernard Cazeneuve is holding a press conference. He says 80 are people dead and 18 are in intensive care.
“Our thoughts go to all the people of Nice who tonight are traumatised and plunged into a great state of worry,” he said.
Cazeneuve said the police were being mobilised to identify the man behind the attacks and establish if he had any accomplices.
“We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at every cost and who are extremely violent.”
Interior minister Cazeneuve in #Nice: “We're at war with terrorists who want to hit us at any cost and in a very violent way”.
— Angelique Chrisafis (@achrisafis) July 15, 2016
Updated
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump respond
The Republican and Democratic presidential candidates have responded to the attack in France with phone-in appearances on US TV networks, offering divergent views over what they both called a “war” against terrorists.
Donald Trump, who has postponed the unveiling of his vice presidential running mate in response to the attack in Nice, indicated he would be prepared to seek a formal declaration of war from the US Congress and commit ground troops to the conflict.
Asked by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly if NATO troops should now launch a ground and air offensive against unspecified terrorist targets. “I would say that would be just fine,” Trump reportedly replied.
He said “I would, I would” when asked if he would seek a formal declaration of military action from the US Congress. “This is war,” Trump continued. “If you look at it, this is war. Coming from all different parts. And frankly it’s war, and we’re dealing with people without uniforms. In the old days, we would have uniforms. You would know who you’re fighting.”
Hillary Clinton was asked about Trump’s comments during her own appearance on CNN around one our later. She provided a more cautious reply, using similarly bellicose language but questioning the wisdom of being drawn into a ground war against the Islamic State.
“I think it is clear we are at war with these terrorist groups and what they represent. It is a different kind of war and we need to be smart about how we wage it and win it. So I think we need to look at all possible approaches to doing just that.” Asked who, precisely, the US was at war against, Clinton said: We’re at war against radical jihadists who use Islam to recruit and radicalize others in order to pursue their evil agenda. It is not so important what we call these people as what we do about them.”
The former secretary of state added that the enemy was “an ideology and not a nation state”, adding that it was misleading to refer to the current conflict as “World War III”. “It is a very different kind of war,” she said, adding that Isis would “love to draw the United States into a ground war in Syria. They actually think the end times would be hastened if we had some confrontation in that region. So we’ve got to be smart about this, not get pushed or pulled into taking action that doesn’t have the positive effect it needs to have.”
Clinton advocated an “intelligence surge”, better cooperation among allies in the fight against terrorism and greater efforts to combat radicalization online.
François Hollande is giving a press conference
The French president, François Hollande, has confirmed that 77 people have died “including children”. He says it cannot be denied that it was a terrorist attack.
He says:
France has been struck on the day of her national holiday ... the symbol of liberty.
We show our solidarity towards the victims and their families.
All means are being deployed to help the wounded.
France as a whole is under the threat of Islamist terrorism. We have to demonstrate absolute vigilance and show determination that is unfailing.
Therefore I have decided to first maintain a high level of police forces, with 10,00 military staff, as well as our police forces. I have also decided to ask military volunteers to join and help our police forces.
I have decided that the state of emergency which was supposed to end on July 26 will be extended by three months.”
Nothing will lead us to give in to our will to fight against terrorism. We are going to strengthen our efforts in Syria and Iraq against those who are attacking us on our very soil.”
Hollande said he would go to Nice on Friday to support the city.
“France is horrified by what has taken place, this monstrosity of using a lorry to deliberately kill dozens of people who had come to celebrate 14 July.
“France is afflicted but I assure you she is strong and she will always be stronger than the fanatics that want to strike her today.”
Pres. Hollande: Horror has struck France again. France will always be strong. https://t.co/aDPHrg81eI https://t.co/2JB66uSIii
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) July 15, 2016
Updated
Details about the driver emerge – reports
Both the French TV station BFM and the local newspaper Nice-Matin are reporting that the driver is a 31-year-old with dual French-Tunisian nationality.
BFM is quoting a police source via Agence France-Presse who said an ID card had been found inside the truck. Reports say the man was a Nice resident.
We stress that none of these details are confirmed.
INFO NICE-MATIN. Un Niçois d'origine tunisienne au volant du camion #AttentatNice https://t.co/hklMbEMcO1 pic.twitter.com/fOIQNS5UN4
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 15, 2016
Updated
The president of the region that includes Nice has announced that the city’s jazz festival, due to open on Saturday, and a Rihanna concert planned for Friday evening, have both been cancelled after the deadly truck attack.
Christian Estrosi said flags would be lowered across the city on Friday.
Dès demain les drapeaux de la ville seront en berne. Après l'annulation du concert de Rihanna, le festival du jazz est annulé.
— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) July 15, 2016
Updated
Le Figaro’s front page:
EN DIRECT - "L'horreur, à nouveau" à la une du Figaro >> https://t.co/2F6oHpGeRM pic.twitter.com/5CbE3VlzDj
— Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) July 15, 2016
Updated
Hollande to hold a press conference in about 20 minutes
Attentat de Nice : allocution télévisée de Hollande vers 03H30 (Elysée) #AFP
— Guillaume Daudin (@GuillaumeDaudin) July 15, 2016
'I have never been so terrified in my life'
An Australian tourist in Nice has told the Australian Associated Press she could hear gunshots as the truck ploughed through crowds.
Katie Baronie Shaw, 21, said she and a friend had walked from a foreshore fireworks display to a nearby bar when the music stopped and gunfire rang out.
“We had no idea what was going on. Then all we could hear was gunshots. My friend just grabbed me and we all went out the back stairs and had to sprint out, staying low, with guys ushering us away from the foreshore.”
Shaw sheltered inside the bar as staff pushed everyone to the back and pulled down roller doors.
“We just sprinted, heads down. I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”
Updated
The French Muslim Council has condemned the attack “with the greatest vigour”.
The council statement says: “France has been hit yet another time by a terrorist attack of the utmost severity,” adding that this “odious terrorist act took aim at our country on the very day of its national holiday, a day which celebrates liberty, equality and fraternity”.
The council called for French Muslims to pray this Friday “to the memory of the victims of this barbarian attack”.
Updated
Relatives of the missing plea for help
Family members and friends of those who have not been in touch since the attack have been posting their details on Twitter in the hope of finding them.
Théo 15 ans en vacance a côté de Nice si vous l'avez vu merci de me tenir au courant en dm #Nice06 #Attentat pic.twitter.com/nWPNDpKfJO
— lisouilleee (@caamts) July 14, 2016
ON RECHERCHE FLORENCE, LAURENT ET ALEXIS CE SOIR #Nice06 #PortesOuvertesNice #Nice pic.twitter.com/TVt0jaqV7m
— NICE FIND PEOPLE (@NICEFINDPEOPLE) July 14, 2016
A Reuters reporter is among the missing.
Here is a photo of our colleague @Matthiasgalante . We last spoke to him at 17h but no news since. #Nice06 pic.twitter.com/O90yn830QH
— John Irish (@IrishJReuters) July 15, 2016
Updated
Death toll rises to 77
Christian Estrosi, the president of the Nice region, has told iTélé that the death toll is now 77.
77 morts à #Nice selon Christian Estrosi cité par iTele pic.twitter.com/26LRItAs70
— Gilles Klein (@GillesKLEIN) July 15, 2016
Updated
The lobby of the Hotel Negresco has been turned into a makeshift hospital.
#NiceAttentat : dans le hall du Negresco transformé en hôpital. Les témoins sont entendus par les enquêteurs pic.twitter.com/FsBjNfRVQw
— Alban Mikoczy (@AlbanMikoczy) July 14, 2016
Updated
What we know so far
- A large truck has ploughed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riveria city of Nice.
- The crash, which left at least 70 dead, is being treated as a terrorist attack.
- The driver of the truck has been killed by police. They are trying to determine if he had accomplices.
- Authorities say the man was firing on the crowd as he drove, and that the truck was loaded with weapons and grenades.
- Witnesses said the driver was purposefully aiming the vehicle at the crowd and “zigzagging” so that he could hit as many people as possible. It was reported that he drove into the crowd for 2km.
- After the attack, the police advised residents of Nice to remain in their homes.
-
François Hollande, the French president, is on his way to Paris from Avignon to chair an emergency security and defence meeting at 9am on Friday. The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, is on his way to Nice.
- World leaders, including Barack Obama, have condemned the attack. Donald Trump has postponed the announcement of his running mate.
Updated
'The worst catastrophe our region has seen'
Minutes ago the president of the Nice region, Christian Estrosi, held a press conference. He said:
This is the worst catastrophe our region has seen in modern history. We now have to mobilise all of our services, all the psychologists, volunteers who are trained to help fellow human beings.
We will work with the imams, priests and rabbis who will also join us to help the victims and families who are suffering and will probably never heal their wounds ... I want to thank people who welcomed passersby and those people who show us tonight that hopefully, solidarity still exists in a world that is too egoistical and individualistic.
He added that a “senior member of the police forces” had been killed during the attack.
Updated
An Australian witness has described the panic in the aftermath of the attack. Sophie Sanderlands said there were “strollers on the ground, people crammed into restaurants”.
Sophie Sanderlands is on holiday in France and has described the moment she saw thousands of people sprinting #sun7 https://t.co/bmUF3hpdbv
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) July 14, 2016
Updated
Barack Obama releases statement
On behalf of the American people, I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of those killed, and we wish a full recovery for the many wounded.
I have directed my team to be in touch with French officials, and we have offered any assistance that they may need to investigate this attack and bring those responsible to justice. We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack.
On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world, and we know that the character of the French republic will endure long after this devastating and tragic loss of life.
Updated
A French parliamentary investigation into last year’s terrorist attacks on Paris last week identified multiple failings by France’s intelligence agencies.
The parliamentary commission was set up to assess the failure to prevent a series of attacks that killed a total of 147 people in 2015 – from January’s gun attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a kosher grocery store to the coordinated gun and bomb attacks on 13 November outside the national sports stadium, at bars and restaurants and at a rock gig at the Bataclan concert hall.
The commission highlighted a “global failure” of French intelligence and recommended a total overhaul of the intelligence services and the creation of a single, US-style national counter-terrorism agency.
“Our country was not ready; now we must get ready,” said Georges Fenech, head of the commission.
France has six intelligence units answering variously to the interior, defence and economy ministries. Fenech said the multi-layered, cumbersome intelligence apparatus was like an army of soldiers wearing lead boots.
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, this week rejected the idea of an overhaul. He said some of the report’s other recommendations were already being put in place.
Updated
Updated
Counter-terrorism police take over the investigation
A spokesman for the interior ministry confirms that – contrary to some reports – no hostages were taken.
“There is no hostage taking,” an interior ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henry Brandet, told AFP, denying dozens of rumours after the attack.
“An individual drove a truck into the crowd,” he said. “He was killed by police.
“Investigations are currently under way to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled.”
Counter-terrorism investigators have taken over the investigation, prosecutors said.
Updated
The date of the attack — France’s national day of celebration — was seen as symbolic only eight months after 130 people were killed in November’s coordinated Paris attacks on a stadium, bars and a rock gig at the Bataclan.
Bastille Day, the most important holiday in France and the equivalent to the 4th of July in the US, marks the day a mob stormed a fortress known for holding political prisoners on 14 July 1789.
At the time, France was in economic and political crisis. Taxes were high and food was scarce. There was widespread anger and resentment towards Louis XVI and the increasing militarisation of France.
Updated
Some of the front pages from French and British newspapers:
Tomorrows Le Parisien front page pic.twitter.com/ASvbfkPsQO
— Hugh Whitfeld (@hughwhitfeld) July 14, 2016
Updated Times front page:
— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) July 14, 2016
Dozens of revellers dead in Bastille Day massacre#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #Nice pic.twitter.com/AE6hxQ8F7H
Updated Telegraph front page:
— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) July 14, 2016
Dozens killed as terror strikes French Riviera#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #Nice pic.twitter.com/rJK1IOylyo
Two weeks ago before the Nice attack, the authorities in France had announced that they were beefing up security measures for the holiday season by deploying armed police patrols on the beaches.
Officers belonging to the CRS riot police force, who have previously been equipped with batons and handcuffs, were allowed to wear special holsters carrying weapons for the first time. Bulletproof vests were also to be put at their disposal.
The move came two weeks after an unarmed French police chief and his partner were killed in a stabbing in front of their house outside Paris. Isis claimed responsibility for the attack, which has sparked a debate in France about whether the forces should carry weapons outside working hours. France remains in a state of emergency following November’s deadly attacks, which left 130 dead. Read more here:
Updated
Emergency numbers
The central hospital in Nice has released a number for families of the victims.
Le Planc Blanc a été déclenché, le numéro de téléphone pour les familles :
— CHU de Nice (@CHUdeNice) July 14, 2016
04 93 72 22 22
Other countries have set up their own emergency lines.
The Irish Embassy in Paris has asked anyone who needs assistance in #Nice to contact them at +33 (0)144176700
— FM104 (@FM104) July 14, 2016
DFAT release re the ongoing incident in Nice, France pic.twitter.com/7hbsVq55h1
— Joel Dry (@JoelDry9) July 14, 2016
Truck was loaded with weapons
Christian Estrosi, president of the region, says the truck in Nice was loaded with weapons and grenades, according to AP.
Estrosi told BFM TV: “The driver fired on the crowd, according to the police who killed him.”
He said the truck had been driven by someone who appeared to have “completely premeditated behaviour”.
He added that “the truck was loaded with arms, loaded with grenades”.
Updated
Le Figaro reports that, according to the interior ministry, investigators are currently looking for potential accomplice but confirms that there was no hostage taking.
Updated
Donald Trump delays announcing running mate due to Nice attack
In light of the horrible attack in Nice, France, I have postponed tomorrow's news conference concerning my Vice Presidential announcement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2016
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, has voiced his solidarity with the residents of Nice.
Emotion profonde et tristesse infinie face à l'attaque à #Nice06. Solidarité à l'égard des #Niçois et des habitants des Alpes-Maritimes.
— Nicolas Sarkozy (@NicolasSarkozy) July 14, 2016
Updated
Death toll rises to 73 – reports
France’s iTélé TV channel is quoting an unnamed police source who says the death toll is now 73.
Updated
Driver of the lorry is dead
The interior ministry has confirmed that the driver of the truck, which ploughed through crowds on the Nice promenade, has been neutralised.
.@PHBrandet (porte-parole) : l'individu qui conduisait le camion a été neutralisé. L'enquête déterminera s'il a agi seul #Nice
— Ministère Intérieur (@Place_Beauvau) July 14, 2016
Updated
François Hollande heads to crisis centre
The French president, François Hollande, is heading to the interior ministry’s crisis centre, Reuters reports.
The French presidency said on its Twitter feed that the government had activated the inter-ministerial crisis centre following the attack in Nice.
Updated
Maryam Violet, an Iranian journalist visiting Nice on holiday, told the Guardian she saw the lorry running over people as they walked in the pedestrian area after the fireworks had finished.
“Everyone was completely shocked, I saw that suddenly people were fleeing and shouting,” she said over the phone from Nice. “People were shouting, ‘It’s a terrorist attack, it’s a terrorist attack,’ it was clear that the driver was doing it deliberately,” she said.
“I was walking for nearly a mile and that there were dead bodies over the place … I think over 30 dead bodies are on the ground and lots of people are injured.”
The bodies had been covered by blue sheets.
“I saw two sisters and one brother from Poland that were mourning the death of their two other siblings,” Violet said. “The youngest one was crying and the other two just didn’t know how to react.
“There were so many Muslim people who were victims because I could see they had scarves over their head and some were speaking Arabic. One family lost a mother and in Arabic they were saying she’s a martyr.
“People were celebrating and it was so peaceful, it was a festivity vibe, it was right after the fireworks that the truck came and ran over people.”
Updated
Donald Trump has been quick to deliver his take.
Another horrific attack, this time in Nice, France. Many dead and injured. When will we learn? It is only getting worse.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2016
Updated
Bonnie Malkin here, taking over the blog from Kevin Rawlinson.
Tony Molina, a witness to the attack, has told CNN that he watched the chaos unfold from his hotel room on the promenade.
“There was still a crowd of people and then you just see this big white panel truck, I couldn’t see the driver, but it just kept going at different angles from left to right at 25 to 30 miles and hour,” he said.
“People were screaming and running. There are still people I am looking at right now that are near their deceased family members.
“I work in homicide and I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unbelievable.”
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The US president, Barack Obama, has been appraised of the situation and will be updated as appropriate, the White House says.
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Nice prosecutor's office says 60 feared dead
The Nice prosecutor’s office is being quoted by the iTélé TV channel that 60 people are now feared dead.
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A witness has told the Associated Press that he saw the truck driver emerge from the vehicle with a gun and start shooting after ploughing into the crowd.
Wassim Bouhlel, a Nice native who spoke to the agency near the city’s Promenade du Paillon, said: “There was carnage on the road. Bodies everywhere.”
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Sebastien Humbert, the prefect for the Alpes-Maritime area, has told BFM TV: “A truck rammed into the crowd over a long distance, which explains this extremely heavy toll.” According to Reuters, Humbert said the truck driver had been shot dead and that he was treating the incident as an attack at present.
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The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has tweeted: “On behalf of all Parisians, all of our fraternal support [goes] to the people of Nice. Our cities are united.”
Au nom des Parisiens, tout notre soutien le plus fraternel au peuple niçois. Nos villes sont unies.
— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) July 14, 2016
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British security and government officials are monitoring the situation in Nice, as the seriousness of the incident escalated.
The initial details suggest a tactic that jihadi propaganda has suggested for several years, with a vehicle ploughing into a crowd. For instance, Inspire magazine – affiliated with al-Qaida – urged the tactic several years ago.
There are two immediate direct consequences for the UK if the attack is confirmed as a terrorist incident: fears about the decision by terrorists to use the tactic and the fact that past attacks overseas have led to increase in hate incidents directed at Muslims in Britain.
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Nice-Matin quoted its own reporter at the scene as saying there were many injured people and blood on the street. It published the photograph below of the damaged, long-distance delivery truck, which it said was “riddled with bullets” and images of emergency services treating the injured.
Damien Allemand, the paper’s correspondent, was quoted as saying: “People are running. It’s panic. He rode up on to the Prom and piled into the crowd ... There are people covered in blood. There must be many injured.”
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A witness is telling BFM TV that he heard shots fired but that he could see nothing of the driver of the truck. It was unclear who fired the shots the witness referred to.
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There have been numerous reports that shots were fired during the incident, though it must be pointed out that they have not been confirmed by officials.
The local paper Nice-Matin: “If you are looking for a place to find cover, use #PortesOuvertesNice (doors open Nice)”
Si vous cherchez un lieu pour vous mettre à l'abri utilisez le #PortesOuvertesNice
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 14, 2016
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Dreadful reports from Nice. Thoughts with all involved. https://t.co/iQ7FmyP0Gm
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) July 14, 2016
Reuters now reports that a French official has told local media that at least 30 people are dead and 100 injured. The driver is also dead, the local prefect reportedly said.
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The Agence France-Presse says its reporter described seeing a white van driving at high speed on to the Promenade des Anglais, which is by the beach in Nice, as people were leaving after the Bastille Day celebration display.
“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around,” he said, adding that the crash took place near the Hotel Negresco. Terrified pedestrians screamed as they fled the area. “It was absolute chaos,” he said.
A security cordon was established, closing off the central Place Massena by 11.30pm GMT, another AFP correspondent said.
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Christian Estrosi, the official in question, tweeted: “The driver of a truck seems to have killed dozens of people. Stay indoors for the time being. More information is to follow.”
Cher niçois, le chauffeur d'un camion semble avoir fait des dizaines de morts. Restez pour le moment à votre domicile. Plus d'infos à venir
— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) July 14, 2016
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Dozens of people have been killed by a lorry that ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, according to the mayor of the southern French city.
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