France has been stunned again by an attack on people who were just gathered for a night out, this time to watch a fireworks display on the Riviera.Luca Bruno/APA man reacts near bouquets of flowers near the scene.
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It careered into families and friends listening to an orchestra or strolling above the Mediterranean beach towards the century-old grand Hotel Negresco. Nice Regional President Christian Estrosi said at least 10 children were killed. Of the scores of injured, 25 were on life support, authorities said on Friday.
Bouhlel had driven more than a mile in the rented truck, zig-zagging across the road to mow down as many people as possible, witnesses said.
She describes a jarring scene in Nice on Friday morning – a clear sunny day, with palm trees and the blue Mediterranean Sea visible behind investigators in hazmat suits picking through debris, including baby carriages.
The prosecutor said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been armed and at the end of his rampage he had fired “several times at three police officers” before he was shot dead. “The entire France is under the threat of Islamist terrorism”.
Bouhlel’s ex-wife was also arrested during police raids carried out at two addresses on Friday. He was divorced and has three children.
A second automatic pistol, a grenade and two assault rifle replicas, a kalacknikov and a M16, were also found.
During an interview with French radio, Bouhlel’s father said he had not seen his son in four years. “We are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization”.
French President Francois called the incident a “terrorist” attack and has announced a three-month extension of a state of emergency that has been in place since the November attacks. The prime ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, New Zealand, Turkey and the president of the European Council, are among the many who condemned the attack on social media.
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Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry building was lit up in the red, white and blue colors of the French flag late Thursday, in what has become a traditional show of solidarity with France, which has suffered a series of terrorist strikes. “He expresses his deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims of this horrific act, as well as to the government and the people of France”. A former neighbour in Bouhlel’s hometown of Msaken, about 120 km (75 miles) south of Tunis, said he had left for France in 2005, after getting married, and had worked as a driver there. The cable stressed “the State of Qatar’s solidarity with the friendly French Republic against terrorism and called for intensifying worldwide efforts to fight it and eradicate it”.
