He paid 1,600 euros ($1,772) on July 4 to hire the truck used to ram into dozens of people on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais and in the immediate days prior to the attack, Bouhlel was caught twice on surveillance cameras rehearsing the journey that he would take on July 14, Molins said.
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In Nice, many people were still desperately waiting for news of their loved ones.
In contrast, flowers, French flags and candles make up a number of memorials to the victims on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais. French authorities detained two more people Sunday in the investigatio…
Pradal said the attack in Nice, which follows two mass killings by Islamic extremists in Paris a year ago, shows that his city represents a particular target for extremists because of its long history as a Mediterranean melting pot that is tolerant of all nationalities and religions. He said a review of Bouhlel’s computer and phone showed online searches relating to IS, other jihadi groups and violent images. Whether those were sufficient is part of the investigation now being conducted, he said.
The father-of-three also searched for information about the terror attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead, and the Paris suburb of Magnanville – where a police couple was killed last month.
One witness told authorities that Bouhlel seemed accustomed to looking at decapitation videos, Molins said.
On Saturday Isis claimed responsibility for inspiring the attack, and said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was one of its followers.
The ex-wife of the attacker Mohamed Bouhlel was released from police custody yesterday.
“Mohamed didn’t pray, didn’t go to the mosque and ate pork”, said the uncle, a 69-year-old retired teacher, in the driver’s hometown of Msaken, Tunisia. He said he learned about the Algerian from extended family members who live in Nice.
The Nice truck attacker beat a driver with a nail-studded plank in January after the men got into a fight in traffic, according to a police report seen by AFP yesterday.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was booed before and after the minute of silence for the victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack on Monday.
Valls dismissed the jeers and calls for him to resign as “disgraceful”, saying they reflected the “attitude of a minority” in the city run by the opposition Republicans party.
At the Pasteur hospital, where many injured are being treated, emergency responders and other medical personnel gathered in the courtyard for the countrywide moment of silence, standing still in a row and clapping when it was over.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve defended the government efforts to halt terror attacks, calling for “dignity and truth” from critical opposition politicians as the national mood sours further nine months ahead of the next presidential election.
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Molins also told reporters that 13 bodies remain unidentified following the tragedy, and that officials had begun returning the remains of some of those who died to their families.
