This is the moment police
surrounded and opened fire on the driver of a truck which had ploughed
through crowds on Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people.
Eyewitnesses said the killer swerved from side to side to kill as many people as possible as he drove for hundreds of metres along the Promenade des Anglais on the seafront of the city on the French Riviera.
French prosecutors have launched a terrorism investigation after the incident and police have stated that the attacker was a 31 year-old French-Tunisian, born in Tunisia.
Eyewitnesses said the killer swerved from side to side to kill as many people as possible as he drove for hundreds of metres along the Promenade des Anglais on the seafront of the city on the French Riviera.
French prosecutors have launched a terrorism investigation after the incident and police have stated that the attacker was a 31 year-old French-Tunisian, born in Tunisia.
François Hollande, the French
president, warned his country that it had been targeted by Islamic
terrorists as he extended a state of emergency by another three months.
“A fresh atrocity has has just been inflicted on France,” he said in a televised address. “It is the whole of France which is under threat from Islamic terrorism.”
Mr Hollande had been planning to lift France’s state of emergency, which had been in force since terrorists claimed 130 lives in a wave of attacks across Paris on November 13.
But the atrocity in Nice, in which 80 people were killed, forced a change of strategy with Mr Hollande not only announcing a reassessment of the domestic terror threat, but also pledging to step up military activity in Syria and Iraq.
“A fresh atrocity has has just been inflicted on France,” he said in a televised address. “It is the whole of France which is under threat from Islamic terrorism.”
Mr Hollande had been planning to lift France’s state of emergency, which had been in force since terrorists claimed 130 lives in a wave of attacks across Paris on November 13.
But the atrocity in Nice, in which 80 people were killed, forced a change of strategy with Mr Hollande not only announcing a reassessment of the domestic terror threat, but also pledging to step up military activity in Syria and Iraq.
“We will maintain a high level of vigilance, the state of emergency will be maintained for three months,” Mr Hollande said.
New Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said a Briton is believed to be among the scores injured.
Speaking to the BBC as he left his home, Mr Johnson said: "It's an absolutely appalling incident and there will be ministerial meetings later on today to discuss the implications.
"Clearly this represents a continuing threat. If this is a terrorist incident, as this appears to be, this represents a continuing threat to us in the whole of Europe and we must meet it together.
"The only information that I have is that there is one UK national who is injured."
World leaders reacted with horror and sadness after the deadly attack.New Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said a Briton is believed to be among the scores injured.
Speaking to the BBC as he left his home, Mr Johnson said: "It's an absolutely appalling incident and there will be ministerial meetings later on today to discuss the implications.
"Clearly this represents a continuing threat. If this is a terrorist incident, as this appears to be, this represents a continuing threat to us in the whole of Europe and we must meet it together.
"The only information that I have is that there is one UK national who is injured."
US president Barack Obama has condemned "in the strongest terms" what he said "appears to be a horrific terrorist attack".
In a statement tweeted by the White House, the president offered assistance to French officials to investigate and "bring those responsible to justice
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