The attacker fired on crowds of people before he was shot dead by police, but French President Hollande said it was not immediately clear whether he had accomplices.
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The attack occurred on the popular Promenade des Anglais as people were celebrating the national day of France – Bastille Day by observing the traditional fireworks.
The French president and prosecutors are in little doubt that it is a terrorist attack. He said the extremists’ “poisonous and twisted ideology” will be defeated in France, London and other parts of the world. “We have to demonstrate absolute vigilance and show determination that is unfailing”.
IS has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military action against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to fight in its ranks.
Hollande continued, “I have made a decision to first maintain a high level of police forces, with 10,000 military staff, as well as our police forces”.
Isabel Hardman, who was in Nice at the time of the attack, has reported on the aftermath.
Others say the driver emerged from the vehicle and attempted to open fire.
An Australian citizen, Emily Watkins, who was caught up in the chaos told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that while she saw the truck, she did not realise what had happened.
Christian Estrosi said flags would be lowered across the city on Friday.
Tomas Tuhy, the country’s top police officer says security has been boosted at Prague’s and other worldwide airports, train stations and other places where sports and cultural events take place.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 80 people died and 18 were in a critical condition.
There are reports he was a 31-year-old French Tunisian man who was known to police but not on a terror watch list. “It’s certain that our security services are going to include information resulting from this act committed last night in Nice in their analyses”. “One family lost a mother and in Arabic they were saying she’s a martyr”, she said.
People screamed and scattered as the truck veered down the beachfront where thousands of adults and children had gathered for the fireworks.
The French Muslim Council condemned “with the greatest vigor”, the attack.
Leaders in France and across the globe are obliged to speak in horrified terms about the carnage, but there is little they can do – France was already under a tight state of emergency and security had been heightened further for the Bastille Day celebrations. “Our sympathy is with the victims, and our solidarity with the French people”.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has expressed condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the terrorist attack in the French city of Nice.
Bastille Day is the country’s national holiday and marks the start of the French Revolution in 1789.
The attack came just hours after the French president announced a state of emergency that was declared after deadly terror attacks previous year would not be again extended and would come to end July 26.
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France is still on alert after the Paris terror attacks on November 13, in which 130 people were killed at sites including the Bataclan Theatre and Stade de France.
