Revellers had gathered on the French city’s seafront to watch fireworks as the country celebrated Bastille Day – a national day of celebration across France.
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The Swiss foreign affairs office (EDA) confirmed to news agencies that a Swiss woman was among the 84 killed in the Bastille Day attack, but did not state her identity.
Christian Estrosi wrote in French on Twitter: “Dear Nice, the driver of a truck seems to have left dozens dead”. The assault on revelers rocked a nation still dealing with the aftermath of two attacks in Paris a year ago that killed 147 people and were claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
Sylvie Toffin, a press officer with the local prefecture, said the truck “hit several people on a long trip” down the sidewalk near Nice’s Palais de la Méditerranee, a building which fronts the beach. Other reports said he lived alone and was not married.
“France is a great country and a great democracy and we will not allow ourselves to be destabilized”, he added.
Sebastien Pietrasanta, a French lawmaker who was on the commission investigating the November attacks, said the truck driver in Nice had not been flagged as having ties to radicals. Videos of the attack show police running after the truck on foot.
Family friend Jess Davis says 51-year-old Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son Brodie were killed Thursday evening in what French authorities have described as a terror attack. No extremist groups have claimed responsibility for the attack, but Hollande said in a statement that France was “under threat from Islamic terrorism”.
According to BFM TV, the attacker’s driving license and credit card were found in the truck.
“It was at that moment that the police were able to stop the terrorist”, he said.
The attack came just hours after President Francois Hollande announced a decision to lift the state of emergency, which has now been continued for three more months.
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Calvar said he feared increasingly armed far-right groups could launch “punitive expeditions” against immigrant communities as part of revenge attacks, and that other European Union countries, including Britain, could also suffer a similar fate.
