Nice, France 15July2016 16:21 EDT
Updates related to the Thursday, July 14, 2016 Bastille Day attack.
16:21 p.m., Fri, Jul 15 'What We Know' post from The Guardian live blog:
Eighty-four people, including 10 children, were killed on Thursday night when a 31-year-old French Tunisian attacked Bastille Day celebrations in Nice by speeding a truck for 2km (about 1 mile) along the crowded promenade.
Two hundred and two people were injured and 52 people remain in critical care, 25 on life support, French prosecutor François Molins said. Three or four children are in extremely critical condition, a doctor told the Guardian. The dead include two Americans, a Russian student and a motorcyclist who tried to board the truck to stop the driver.
President François Hollande called the attack “terrorism of opportunity” at a 4am address, and announced three days of mourning and an extended national emergency. He now faces political backlash over the country’s struggling security services.
The attacker was named as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a chauffeur and deliveryman who was born in Tunis but had lived in France for years. Three police officers exchanged fire with Lahouaiej-Bouhlel during his rampage, and found him dead in the passenger seat of the truck, Molins said.
Police found two automatic weapons, ammunition, a mobile phone and documents in the truck, the prosecutor said. They also found fake weapons in the vehicle and more documents at Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s residence.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had a history of threats, violence and petty theft, Molins said, dating from 2010 to 2016, and had been sentenced in March to six-months in prison for a road rage incident.
But he was “totally unknown” to French counter-terrorism agencies, Molins said, and so far authorities have not found links to terror groups or evidence of radicalization. Prime minister Manuel Valls said that he “probably” had some a link to extremism, but admitted the investigation has no evidence at this point.
Police have taken the gunman’s ex-wife in for questioning; Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a father of three. Molins said they are also investigating whether he acted alone or had accomplices.
No terror group has taken credit for the attack, though certain elements mirror recent attacks by the Islamic State (Isis) and its sympathizers.
Embassies and French authorities have urged concerned relatives to call for information, as worried loved ones wait for news amid horrifying witness accounts of the attack.
Barack Obama called for unity around the world in the wake of the Nice attack, and rejected calls to target Muslims or minority groups. “We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that’s exactly what the terrorists want.,” he said. “We should never do their work for them.”