French President François Hollande led a ceremony in the Riviera town of Nice to honour the 86 people, aged between 2 and 92, who died on July 14th when a Tunisian man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group drove a heavy truck into Bastille Day crowds walking the seafront.
The detained were all from the region around Nice in south-east France, suspected of helping Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel mount his attack on July 14th, when he drove a truck into Bastille Day crowds on the Nice seafront causing the deaths of 86 people.
The demand, officially to avoid the gratuitous use of images, came amid a dispute between local and national authorities after the attack which left 84 people dead.
Since the Bastille Day massacre in Nice last week, in which 84 people died, never has the French mainstream Right employed so much energy into mimicking its far-right rival, the Front National, writes Mediapart political correspondent Hubert Huertas, who argues that the attack in Nice is in the process of fragilising French democracy, which is exactly what the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility, hopes for.
Amid criticism from local political figures, the government orders police inquiry to establish security in place on July 14th when 84 died in truck attack.
The Bastille Day attack in Nice, when a Tunisian immigrant from the city drove a truck into crowds walking the seafront Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 people, has heightened the already prevalent racial and social tensions in the Riviera capital. Ellen Salvi reports from Nice, where local politicians have long fuelled the fires of division that threaten to engulf the city.
Three new arrests were made on Sunday as French investigators attempt to establish whether Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who drove a heavy truck into Bastille Day crowds in Nice on Thursday, killing 84 people, received help from accomplices in preparing the massacre. Fresh evidence emerged this weekend suggesting he had carefully planned the attack, including CCTV footage of him reconnoitring the scene earlier last week. But despite a claim by the Islamic State group that Bouhlel was a "soldier" for the jihadist group, his motive remained unclear. Meanwhile, French health minister Marisol Touraine said on Sunday that “about 85 people” were still hospitalised after the carnage on July 14th, of which 18, including a child, were in a life-threatening condition. Graham Tearse reports.
French public prosecutor François Molins confirmed late Friday that 84 people, including ten children and teenagers, were killed when a man drove a 19-tonne truck into seafront crowds attending a firework display during Bastille Day celebrations in the Riviera city of Nice on Thursday evening. The truck attack was carried out by a lone perpetrator, 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian national who had been living in Nice for several years. Molins said a total of 202 people were injured in the attack, and 52 of them were on Friday in a critical condition. The attack is the subject of an investigation into three counts of terrorist acts, while doubts emerged late Friday over the true motive for the attack. Graham Tearse reports.
French officials say at least 80 people died after a heavy truck drove into crowds attending a traditional Bastille Day fireworks celebration in the Riviera city of Nice at around 10.30 p.m. local time. The driver of the truck, who was reportedly later shot dead by police, then began firing shots into the crowd according to several media reports. Local media said the driver was a 31-year-old Nice resident of joint French-Tunisian nationality. French President François Hollande announced in the early hours of Friday that the state of emergency powers introduced after the November 13th terrorist attacks in Paris last year, and due to end later this month, will be extended for a further three months. Graham Tearse reports.
