He gave the latest death toll as 77 after a truck plowed into people celebrating Bastille Day at a fireworks display on the city’s famous Promenade des Anglais.
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The driver of the truck was shot dead by police, but some witnesses said they thought he was firing a gun as he drove.
Tour de France riders including race leader Chris Froome sent messages of support to the victims of the deadly attack in Nice, although organizers did not immediately say whether cycling’s showpiece event will continue as planned.
Hollande said he was calling a defense council meeting Friday that brings together defense, interior and other key ministers, then heading to Nice.
The attack, which came eight months and a day after Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers struck the French capital on a festive Friday evening, seemed so far to be the work of a lone assailant.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing gunshots and pictures on social media showed armed police with weapons trained on a badly damaged white lorry with bullet holes in the windscreen. Jacques, who runs Le Queenie restaurant on the seafront, told the station: “People went down like ninepins”. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this awful incident on what was a day of national celebration. At least 80 people were killed before police killed the driver, authorities said.
Esther Serwah, from Coulsdon, south London, was on holiday with her two daughters in the French city when the truck hurtled into revellers celebrating Bastille Day.
Ms Ellison said her daughter was able to jump out of the way of the truck ‘just in time’.
French President Francois Hollande had hours earlier said a state of emergency put in place after the Paris attacks in November would not be extended when it was due to expire on July 26. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack, the worst bloodshed on French soil since World War II.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned what she called an act of mass murder.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government and people of Pakistan were deeply saddened by the attack.
France, hit with two waves of attacks previous year that killed 147 people, has long known it is a top target for the Islamic State group.
“They were yelling stuff and I got really scared”.
The witness said the driver accelerated as he was mowing people down.
“I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route”.
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It wasn’t until later we realised it was a terrorist attack’.
