French Health Minister Marisol Touraine told reporters in Nice on Sunday that 18 of the 85 people still hospitalized following the Bastille Day attack were in critical condition, including one child.
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In Msaken, Tunisia, the man’s father, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel, told Agence France-Presse last night that his son had depression, but that he “had nearly no links to religion”, and that “he didn’t pray, he didn’t fast, he drank alcohol, and even used drugs”.
Police have arrested a man and a woman in connection with the truck attack that killed at least 84 people celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, a judiciary source has said.
He had been parked on the street for almost nine hours and even told police he was delivering ice cream before carrying out his deadly attack.
“I saw him four times a day”, said Jasmine Corman, who has lived in the building for six months.
French authorities earlier said they had been questioning five people Saturday.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve on Saturday called on “patriotic citizens” to become reservists to help relieve exhausted security forces.
Bouhlel had used his credit card and driving licence to collect the vehicle on Monday, say reports (Picture: Mail online) Bouhlel is believed to have used his credit card and driving licence to collect the vehicle on Monday from Saint-Laurent-du-Var, which is around 30 minutes west of Nice.
Although the Islamist extremist group “Islamic State” (IS) has claimed reponsibility for the attack, calling Bouhlel one of its “soldiers”, it remains unclear to what extent he had links to it or any other Islamist group, or whether the attack had any sort of religious extremist motivation.
According to CNN, France has not indicated whether Bouhlel was an ISIS sympathizer or an ISIS member sent to attack.
French President Francois Hollande has canceled his trip to Prague planned for next week following the deadly attack in Nice.
ISIL said it carried out the attack in response to calls to target civilians in countries that are part of a coalition fighting ISIL. The driver was identified as Mohamed Bouhlel, a Tunisian deliveryman known to authorities as a petty criminal.
A man and women were detained Sunday morning in Nice, the AP, Reuters and Agence France Presse reported, all citing an unnamed official from the Paris prosecutor’s office. Messages seeking further details were not returned. More than 200 people were injured.
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The identities of most of those brought into custody were not clear.
