President Emmanuel Macron, joined by his predecessors François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, travelled to the Riviera city of Nice on Friday to take part in commemorations of the terrorist attack committed last year by a Tunisian national, and claimedt in the name of the Islamic State group, who drove a heavy truck into seafront crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 86 people and injuring more than 450 others.
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.
