Local news outlet Nice Matin said an identity card was found in the rented truck, in the name of a local man, 31, of Tunisian origin, but police did not comment on whether it belonged to the suspect.
Advertisement
Local media is reporting that gunshots were heard.
Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre described a horrific scene, with bodies strewn along the roadway, and Sylvie Toffin, a press officer with the local prefecture, said the truck ran over people on a “long trip” down the sidewalk near Nice’s Palais de la Mediterranee, a building that fronts the beach.
The ranking politician of the Alpes-Maritime department that includes Nice said the truck plowed into the crowd over a distance of 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).
The truck driver was reportedly killed in an exchange of gunfire with police, and the French Interior Ministry stated that the driver had been “neutralised”.
“People went down like ninepins”, Jacques, who runs Le Queenie restaurant on the seafront, told France Info. The White House has responded to the France crash, condemning the attackers and showing support for the victims.
Damien Allemand, the paper’s correspondent, was quoted as saying: “People are running”. Many others were less seriously hurt. Residents of the Mediterranean city close to the Italian border were advised to stay indoors. There was no sign of any other attack.
The Bastille Day celebrations in Nice took a tragic turn as a truck rammed into the crowd killing 77 people in French Riviera.
The driver was killed by police and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the Thursday night attack on France’s national holiday, which rocked a nation still dealing with the aftermath of two attacks in Paris past year that killed a total of 147 people.
France was on high alert for this month’s Euro 2016 football championships, Cazeneuve said.
At least 80 people have been killed in what French President Francois Hollande has branded a terrorist attack.
One woman told France Info that she and others had fled in terror: “The lorry came zig-zagging along the street. And frankly it’s war and we’re dealing with people without uniforms”.
Officials have warned in the past of the risk of Islamist attacks in the region following the Paris and Brussels attacks.
Meanwhile, the state of emergency was imposed since a previous attack on Paris last November would be extended for another three months.
“We can’t extend the state of emergency indefinitely, it would make no sense”.
He called the carnage, which came as France celebrated the anniversary of the 1789 revolutionary storming of the Bastille, an attack on liberty by fanatics who despised human rights.
Advertisement
A foreign ministry spokesman says Ayrault was in Mongolia for the Asia-Europe summit and is expected back late Friday. He will chair a meeting of top military and security officials later Friday to decide on possible further steps.
