What We Know So Far

Special Collection:  Attack in Nice

VOA News

Last updated on: July 15, 2016 (3:58PM)

• A driver plowed his rented truck for 2 kilometers through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the seaside promenade in Nice, France, on Thursday night at about 10:30 p.m. The incident is being treated as a terrorist attack.

• At least 84 people, including several children, were killed and more than 202 others were injured, of whom 52 remain in critical condition. The victims had been milling around after a fireworks display.

• Police killed the attacker after he stopped the truck and exchanged gunfire with officers. His vehicle was found to contain a handgun and ammunition as well as a replica handgun and two replica assault rifles. Police also found a cellphone and identification documents in the cab.

• The assailant was identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a Tunisian-born delivery driver living legally in Nice. He was known to local police for a single road-rage conviction, for which he served a six-month suspended sentence, but was not suspected of extremist or terrorist affiliations by national security agencies.

• Police are seeking to determine whether he had accomplices. His estranged wife was taken into custody for questioning. No terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it was celebrated online by Islamic State supporters.

• A counterterrorism group from within the Paris prosecutor's office has taken over the investigation into the incident.

• French President Francois Hollande has ordered a three-month extension of the state of emergency put into effect following the Paris terror attack in November. He also vowed to strengthen his country's role in the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria. He and and Prime Minister Manuel Valls traveled to Nice on Friday, where they visited survivors in hospital.

• World leaders condemned the attack, while neighboring countries Germany and Italy stepped up border security. U.S. President Barack Obama condemned "what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack." U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the attack made her "sick at heart," while Republican Donald Trump called the attack "horrible."

• Various foreign ministries have said the dead include three Germans, three Algerians, two Americans, two Moroccans, two Armenians, two Swiss, one Russian and one Ukrainian. Hollande said children were among those killed.

• The Tour de France cycling race will continue as planned, though some festivities related to the race will be canceled.