What We Know So Far
- At least 84 people are dead after a truck driver plowed into a crowd gathered to celebrate Bastille Day in Nice, France.
- As many as 10 children are among those killed, according to regional authorities.
- Some 202 people were wounded in the attack, according to Paris prosecutor François Molins. Of those, 52 were in critical condition, 25 of them in intensive care.
- The driver of the truck was shot and killed, officials say. Police have confirmed his identity as 31-year-old French-Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.
- Christian Estrosi, the president of the region, said guns and grenades were found in the cab of the truck, though there are now unverified reports by several media outlets that these were fake or inactive.
- Hollande announced plans to extend a national state of emergency by three months. He also declared three days of national mourning.
- Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France “must learn to live with terrorism,” and that the country must “stand together, united.”
Updates
French interior minister announces increased security measures following attacks
French President Francois Hollande (left) Government Spokesman Stephane Le Foll (center), and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuveon announced on Saturday increased security measures in light of the Nice attack.
Cazeneuve said he plans to call 12,000 police reserves to add to the 120,000 police officers and reserves already deployed across France, according to the Associated Press. The decision was a direct result of the July 14 attack.
The BBC reports that five people have been detained in relation to the Nice attack, including the estranged wife of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the driver of the truck used in the attack.
Francois Hollande calls for national unity and cohesion
Eric Gaillard / Reuters
After an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace on Saturday, government spokesperson Stephane Le Foll read a statement on behalf of the French president in which Hollande described Thursday night’s atrocity as a “terrible tragedy, an unspeakable act”.
Le Foll said that Hollande “wants to reaffirm the need for cohesion for a country like France,” amid “temptations to divide a country”.
“France must remain a great country to live together. France is a country that respects its values, principles and republican values,” the statement said.
Bouhlel was “very quickly radicalised” – interior minister
Matthieu Alexandre / AFP / Getty Images
The driver of the truck in Thursday’s attack, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was known to police for a string of petty crimes, but not French intelligence agencies.
Speaking outside the Elysee Palace in Paris after ISIS claimed Bouhlel was a “soldier of the Islamic State”, French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said it appeared he had been “very quickly radicalised”.
“We are confronted by individuals who, responding to messages from [ISIS], are engaging in extremely violent actions without necessarily having taken part in combat, without necessarily having been trained,” he told journalists, in remarks reported by Le Monde.
He added: “The terrorists are trying to divide us. Us dividing would fulfil their objectives.”
The ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq has claimed the attack in Nice was carried out by a “soldier of the Islamic State”.
However, French investigators have so far not discovered any connection that links attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who was shot and killed by police, to ISIS.
Rita Katz, the director of terror monitoring group SITE Intelligence, tweeted:
1) Breaking: #ISIS' Amaq claims #NiceAttack was carried out by a"soldier of the Islamic State".
2) BREAKING: #ISIS' claimed #NiceAttack through its 'Amaq Agency, says op response to calls to target coalition citizens
Translated, the message reads:
3) #ISIS' Amaq English translation of the #NiceAttackclaims:"Insider source to Amaq": executor was #ISIS soldier
– Matthew Champion
French Prime Minister says attacker “one way or another” linked to radical Islam
Nicolas Kovarik / Getty Images
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday said the Nice attacker who killed 84 people was “probably linked to radical Islam one way or another.”
Valls made the comment to an evening news program, France 2, while denouncing the deadly attack during Bastille Day celebrations as a terrorist act.
“He is a terrorist probably linked to radical Islam one way or another,” he said, according to a Reuters translation. “Yes, it is a terrorist act, and we shall see what the links there are with terrorist organizations.”
Despite Valls’ statement, French officials have not announced a link between Mohamed Bouhlel, the man identified as the driver of the truck that plowed through a crowd, and a radicalized movement or terror group.
Prosecutor Francois Molins said during an earlier press conference Friday that Bouhlel was “completely unknown” to French and international intelligence agencies.
Bouhlel had been arrested for assault and theft.
—Salvador Hernandez
Obama expresses solidarity with France, calls terror networks affront to “our humanity”
President Obama expressed the United States’ solidarity with France following the “appalling attack” in Nice Thursday night, and called terror networks “an affront to all of our humanity.”
“We witnessed another tragic and appalling attack on the freedom and peace that we cherish,” Obama said Friday. “It’s not just the United States of America, but the entire world who stands in solidarity with the people of France.”
While Obama condemned terror networks, officials have not been able to tie the truck attack to a terror group and no group has claimed responsibility for it.
“These individuals and networks are an affront to all of our humanity,” Obama said.
Obama said the U.S. and its allies would continue to push back against groups like ISIS and fight against its ideologies by offering better visions of economic progress so people are less susceptible to extremism and violence.
“We will not be deterred, we will not relent, we’re going to keep working together to prevent attacks and protect our homeland,” Obama said. “We are going to destroy this vile organization.”
Obama also mentioned two U.S. citizens from Austin, Texas, who were killed in the attack, a father and his 11-year-old son who were vacationing in Nice.
He also spoke out against suggestions that all Muslims, even U.S. Muslims, should be targeted in the wake of the attack.
“The very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything we stand for as Americans,” Obama said. “We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that’s exactly what the terrorists want.”
—Adolfo Flores
—Adolfo Flores
Man arrested at a vigil with a “large knife”
NICE — A man was arrested at a vigil for the victims of the Nice attacks with a “large knife,” witnesses told BuzzFeed News.
One person described the weapon as a “machete” and said he was trying to attack people.
People yelled at the man and wept as he was placed into a police car.
—Ryan Broderick
—Ryan Broderick
Three UC Berkeley students injured during attack, one unaccounted for
Nicolas Leslie
Three UC Berkeley students studying abroad in Nice were injured during Thursday’s attack, the university said in a press release.
Nicolas Leslie, a 20-year-old junior majoring in the College of Natural Resources, is still unaccounted for, the release said. There are 85 students currently studying in Nice.
The other three students, whom the university did not name, suffered broken bones. The students are in Nice as part of a 15-day program called Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Europe.
UC Berkeley said it offered to fly students back to the U.S. and so far three have returned.
—Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
President Obama called President Hollande and offered condolences to France on behalf of the American people, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
“France is after all our oldest ally,” he said. “President Obama didn’t just offer condolences but security cooperation and any assistance they need to conduct their investigation.”
Earnest reiterated that there have been no claims to responsibility yet and that French investigators are looking closely at what connections the attacker may have had to extremist organizations.
“More needs to be learned about his background and about other people he may have associated with,” Earnest said. “Anything that would provide insight into how the attack was planned, how it was carried out and whether or not he received any instruction or direction in doing so.”
—Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
Eyewitnesses describe moments of heroism amid the carnage
AP
In an attempt to prevent more injuries, several people attempted to jump into the moving truck as it drove through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice Thursday night, eyewitnesses said.
One police officer managed to jump into the truck, according to Eric Ciotti, a member of the National Assembly of France, which brought the vehicle to a halt.
“I won’t forget the look of this policewoman who intercepted the killer,” he told Europe 1 radio.
A second eyewitness said a person chased the moving truck on their motorcycle. German journalist Richard Gutjahr told Agence France-Press he saw a motorcycle chase the truck as he stood on a balcony on Promenade des Anglais.
“The motorcyclist attempted to overtake the truck and even tried to open the driver’s door, but he fell and ended up under the wheels of the truck,” he said.
—Rossalyn Warren
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in attendance.
Sarkozy entering Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate for mass in honor of victims of #NiceAttack
— Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France had “been hit in his heart”
Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP / Getty Images
Sarkozy offered his condolences in a statement saying “nothing can be as before.”
His full statement reads:
“On this special day for our country, where we celebrated our national day, France has once again been struck in his heart.
Through Nice, its residents, its tourists and the famous Promenade des Anglais, France has been directly targeted last night by Islamist terrorism.
Like all the French, we are struck with terror and immense emotion in response to this mass murder, which affects whole families and their children and which plunges a whole nation, an entire area, a city and its inhabitants into mourning.
My thoughts go first to the victims who were cowardly killed, to their families, the injured, but also to our law enforcement, emergency services and to all the politicians who have fully rallied together throughout this long night.
In the face of terrorist barbarity and individuals willing to do anything to attack France and the French, it is essential to extend the state of emergency and to use it fully to ensure the safety and protection of the French. We are in a war that will last, with a threat that is constantly renewing itself. Adapting and constantly strengthening our measures to combat Islamist terrorism remains a top priority. An exceptional steadfastness and vigilance of every moment, and for a long time, will be needed. Nothing can be as before.”
— Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
— Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
Two guys arrived at the waterfront on a Vespa, played music, and handed out watermelon slices
A couple guys arrived on a Vespa and started handing out watermelon slices and playing music #NiceAttackpic.twitter.com/oaFqkuEgO7
Andrea and his friends were here last night and they brought watermelons today to warm hearts #NiceAttack
A couple guys arrived on a Vespa and started handing out watermelon slices and playing music #NiceAttack
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the attacker was “completely unknown” to the intelligence community
Molins, speaking at a press conference, provided details of the Thursday night attack and also confirmed that Mohamed Bouhlel was the man driving the truck.
Bouhlel, who worked as a delivery man, was “completely unknown” to national and international intelligence services but had been previously arrested for assault and theft.
His ex-wife has been arrested and is being held in police custody, Molins said.
The prosecutor said Bouhlel rode a bike — which was later found in the truck — to pick up the parked vehicle on Thursday.
He drove 2 kilometers (approximately 1.2 miles) into the crowd. He then shot several times at three police officers.
Inside the truck, police found an automatic weapon and a magazine, a fake automatic pistol, a grenade, a mobile phone, and several documents.
Molins said all the items are being investigated.
— Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
Bouhlel, 31, who was living in Nice, was originally from Tunisia, and worked as a delivery driver in the area surrounding Nice.
He had a wife and family and his ex-wife has been arrested and held in custody, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said in a press conference Friday.
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