At the home of one of the suspects, an Albanian national, investigators found 11 telephones, cocaine and €2,600 in cash, according to a security official and the Paris prosecutor’s office. But neighbors in the Nice neighborhood where the Bouhlel used to live told The Associated Press that his estranged wife had been taken away Friday by police.
Advertisement
A moment of silence was held for the 84 killed and more than 200 injured in the Bastille Day truck rampage.
Touraine said of those in intensive care, 18 patients remain “between life and death”, including one child. The French government has been accused of failing to provide enough police on the day – an accusation the prime minister has has denied.
ISIS’ media group, Amaq Agency, said an ISIS “soldier” carried out the attack.
The attacker’s computer records showed a “sure and recent interest for radical jihadist movements”, Molins said, adding that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had also consulted articles on fatal accidents including a report from Nice Matin newspaper headlined: “Man drives his auto into a restaurant terrace”.
Tahar Mejri is one of 30,000 people who had gone to watch the fireworks on the palm tree-lined Promenade des Anglais when their night turned to horror as the truck left mangled bodies strewn in its wake.
Neighbours have described Bouhlel as a violent loner who liked to drink, lift weights and go salsa dancing.
Bernard Cazeneuve told France’s RTL radio that while Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in Nice, may have been inspired by the terrorist network any “links for now have not been established by the investigation”. The claim of responsibility came as French security chiefs met in Paris and as Nice’s seaside boulevard, the famous Promenade des Anglais, was slowly coming back to life. Memorials for the dead have been set up on the westbound lane of the road where the victims were mowed down by Bouhlel.
There has also been anger at the length of time it is taking to identify victims. Pained and outraged epitaphs have been written in blue maker on stones placed where police shot him dead.
A woman asked if she could put a yellow potted plant there, unaware of the significance of the spot. An argument ensued, with other passers-by saying that his family deserved respect.
As we reported, French authorities had said Bouhlel was known to police as a petty criminal, but had never been the subject of any kind of screening by intelligence services.
Advertisement
Many family members have expressed frustration over a lack of information about their missing loved ones.
