French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Tuesday that the country must be prepared for more deadly attacks and will have to “learn to live with the threat”.
Advertisement
The government says in addition to the 84 people killed, 202 were injured in the attack Thursday night, including many tourists from multiple countries.
As authorities were trying to better understand his motives, two more people, a man and a woman close to Bouhlel, were arrested in Nice early on Sunday, bringing the number of people in detention over the killings to seven.
People gather to mourn the victims on the attack scene at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, July 16, 2016.
85 people are still in hospital following the attack, 18 of them in critical condition and Health Minister Marisol Touraine said that one hospitalised person has yet to be identified. He is a 31-year-old Tunisian resident of Nice.
Defending his government’s record, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told Le Monde newspaper in an interview that even with all the measures being taken, “there can never be zero risk”.
The Amaq Agency, “ISIS” media group, in a statement yesterday said that an ISIS “soldier” carried out the attack.
Mr Molins told reporters, however, that signs of a “clear, recent interest in the radical jihadist movement” had emerged, leaving no doubt the attack was “premeditated”.
Molins said that Bouhlel had in the days and two weeks prior to the July 14 attack sought to raise money through a bank loan, which was denied, a cash withdrawal and the sale of his vehicle.
Many families are angry that they couldn’t find information about missing loved ones, and many are angry at police for not preventing the deadly attack despite France being under a state of emergency imposed after Islamic State attacks a year ago in Paris. City Hall authorities noted that barely 45 seconds later the attacker was shot dead by police, and the carnage halted.
Hollande said any police “shortcomings” will be carefully addressed, but defended French authorities’ actions.
Cazeneuve accused the paper of conspiracy theories and said several “heroic” national police – who killed the attacker after an exchange of fire – were stationed further down the promenade.
Advertisement
A coordinated attack in Paris on November 13 killed at least 130 people in a strike claimed by Islamic State, and a series of attacks in January 2015 that began with an assault on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo killed 17 people.
