French authorities were trying to determine on Friday whether a Tunisian who killed at least 84 people by ploughing a truck into Bastille Day crowds had acted alone or with accomplices, but said the attack bore the hallmarks of Islamist militants.
202 people wounded in Nice truck attack: 25 on life support, 52 in critical condition.
It took less than 30 minutes, and possibly just 15, for the man to carry out the attack.
Before 2230: The attacker boards a large white truck on the outskirts of Nice and loads his bicycle into the vehicle, according to regional government chief Christian Estrosi.
2200: A fireworks display attended by some 30,000 locals and tourists, including many children, begins near a tourist office on the Promenade des Anglais, a seafront boulevard lined with palm trees and wide walking areas.
Approximately 2230: The fireworks show ends. Soon afterwards the attacker enters the Promenade des Anglais in the white truck and drives down a stretch of about two km (1.5 miles) fronting the "vieille ville" old quarter where many of the victims were killed.
The driver starts swerving to hit people on the roadway and on the wide pavements that overlook the strand and sea.
2245-2300: The driver is shot dead by police.
2350: Sebastien Humbert, deputy prefect of the Alpes-Maritime region that includes Nice, says the early death toll estimate is around 30 and that the incident is for now being described as a "criminal attack".
0400: President Hollande refers in a televised address to the "terrorist nature of this attack" which involved "the most extreme form of violence" and say the death toll at this stage is at least 77. He says emergency rule imposed in France will be extended for three months beyond what was supposed to be an expiry date of July 26.
1510: After visiting victims in hospital in Nice, Hollande says the death toll has reached 84 and that about 50 are still fighting for their lives.
"Many foreigners" were among those killed or injured in a truck attack on a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. "There are French among the victims and also many foreigners from every continent and many children, young children," said Hollande in a speech from a hospital in the French Riviera city.
"I saw bodies flying like bowling pins in its path. Heard sounds, howls that I will never forget," Allemand wrote in a post on the website Medium. The "truck of death," as he called it, had passed just several meters from where he stood.
Golfers at the British Open at Royal Troon on Friday wore black ribbons on their caps with the slogan "Pray For Nice" written on the peak in tribute to the victims of the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice.
The French flag flew at half mast over one of the stands around the 18th green at Troon on Scotland's west coast.
Tragic paradox that the subject of #NiceAttack was the people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity
- Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) July 14, 2016
Europe's main stock markets fell, with sentiment hit by the fatal Nice truck attack, offsetting Wall Street records and positive Chinese data.
Two American citizens were killed in the attack in Nice that has left at least 84 people dead, a spokesman for the US State Department said Friday.
"At this time, we are aware of and can confirm two US citizens were killed in the attack in Nice on July 14, 2016," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement as US top envoy John Kerry was in Moscow for talks on Syria with his Russian counterpart. "We express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of those killed."
Social media giant Facebook on Friday became a saviour for an eight-month-old boy who was separated from his mother in a stampede after a terrorist ploughed his truck through a crowd of thousands enjoying Bastille Day celebrations in Nice city, mowing down at least 84 people, injuring some 150.
The flags of France and Europe fly at half-mast at the French Embassy in Berlin today after the deadly attack in Nice. (AFP Photo)
German police say they're stepping up border checks on the French frontier following the attack in Nice.
Federal police said Thursday that they had increased checks at land borders and railway crossings with France, and at airports.
They would not give further details, but said the move was made in consultation with France.
French PM Manuel Valls and French President Francois Hollande will go to Nice later today.
The children's hospital in Nice says it has treated some 50 children and adolescents injured in the truck attack, including two who died during or after surgery.
Stephanie Simpson, the communications director for the Lenval foundation hospital, tells The Associated Press that injuries included fractures and head injuries and that the victims were aged 18 or under.
In a phone interview, she said: "Some are still life and death."
She said she could not say exact number of children hospitalized or the ages of those who died.
The hospital is also offering psychological counselling to parents and siblings.
The hospital, equipped with one of France's largest pediadiatric emergency units, also called the families of children it was already treating before the attack to ask them to pick up their children to free up rooms for the attack victims.
London mayor says 'reviewing our own safety' after Nice attack
US Secretary of State John Kerry who is in Moscow today told his Russian counterpart in Moscow that the attack in the French city of Nice showed the need to speed up international efforts to tackle terrorism, especially in Syria.
Sunni Islam's leading seat of learning Al-Azhar condemned a deadly truck attack in Nice on France's national holiday today, urging unity to "rid the world" of "terrorism."
"These vile terrorist attacks contradict Islamic teachings," the Cairo-based institution said in a statement after Thursday evening's attack, which killed at least 84 people and wounded scores more.
"Al-Azhar... affirms the necessity of uniting efforts to defeat terrorism and rid the world of its evil."
The French Tricolour was hoisted on July 15 in solidarity with the French people after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day. (AFP Photo)
The colours of the French flag are projected on the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, Mexico, in tribute to the attack victims of Nice, France. (REUTERS)
The Senate building is lit up in blue, white and red, the colors of the French flag in Mexico City, Mexico, in tribute to the attack victims of Nice, France. (REUTERS)
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday denounced the Nice attack as "cowardly and barbaric", lamenting the lives cut short in the outrage that killed at least 84 people.
"The cowardly and barbaric terrorist attack that hit the town of Nice during the night has profoundly shocked, saddened and afflicted me," he said.
"Once more, so many dreams have been destroyed, so many life plans cut short, so many biographies broken," he went on. "We ask ourselves when is it going to stop?"
The is a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian man whose identity papers were found in the vehicle after the attack on a crowd that had been enjoying a fireworks display on France's July 14 national holiday.
Bastille Day is a celebration of everything France holds dear -- its secular republic and the values of "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity).
Earlier on Thursday, onlookers had enjoyed a day of military pomp and ceremony in Paris -- where armed forces, tanks and fighter jets swooped down the Champs Elysees avenue -- and spectacular firework displays.
#BREAKING France truck attacker formally identified: police source
- AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016
Germany's top security official says the attack in Nice is "incomprehensible and simply awful," and that "this barbaric murder must be finally brought to an end."
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Friday he was shocked by the news of the attack and that his thoughts were with the victims and their family.
De Maiziere says "our friendship with the French people will become even deeper in mourning, anger and determination."
Belgium's Prime Minister said he's convening a meeting of the National Security Council Friday in the wake of the Nice attack, to make sure adequate security measures are in place for Belgium's national holiday next week.
"We have already taken a certain number of steps in connection with preparations for July 21, as you can imagine, and our security services are permanently evaluating the measures that are necessary," Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, said in a radio interview.
"It's certain that our security services are going to include information resulting from this act committed last night in Nice in their analyses," he added.
On March 22, suicide bombers killed 32 victims in the Brussels Airport and subway. The Belgian capital was also home to many of the attackers who killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13.
Both of those attacks were claimed by ISIS.
Christian Estrosi, the regional president in Nice, said some of the city's 1,200 security cameras had pinpointed the moment the attacker boarded the truck, far from the seaside "in the hills of Nice" and could follow his path to the promenade. Estrosi called for the investigation to focus on any accomplices.
"Attacks aren't prepared alone. Attacks are prepared with accomplices," Estrosi said. "There is a chain of complicity. I expect it to be unveiled, discovered and kept up to date."
Estrosi said more than 10 children were among the dead and he said France needed to think carefully about its next response to attacks, as previous responses were not enough to protect the people.
Kremlin released a statement on the France attack that left 84 people dead and critically injured 18. Russia 'in solidarity' with France over Nice attack, read the statement.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Twitter: "Canadians are shocked by tonight's attack in Nice. Our sympathy is with the victims, and our solidarity with the French people."
Germany "stands alongside France in the fight against terrorism," Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding that "words can barely express" what France's allies felt.
"I almost stepped on a corpse, it was horrible. It looked like a battlefield," he said.
In a series of facebook posts, Tarubi Wahid Mosta described the sense of helplessness faced with the carnage.
"All these bodies and their families ... they spent hours on the ground holding the cold hands of bodies dismembered by the truck. You can't even speak to them or comfort them."
He also a shared a video on Facebook that was viewed over 3, 000 times. A trembling Tarubi Wahid Mosta recounted the horror on the promenade, where he took photos of an abandoned doll and pushchair and came home with a victim's Yorkshire terrier.
The number of deaths rise to 84.
The latest number of deaths were announced by France interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said Friday
Nice is an important vacation spot, Embassy says too early to come to a conclusion about Indians affected in Nice
1500 Indians live in Nice
I have spoken to our envoy in Paris
The Embassy has put up a helpline number
We are in Touch with Indian community in Nice
No Indian affected in Nice attack so far
Condemn the attack, stand in solidarity with those affected
I have seen the Story NDTV ran on the woman whose son and Daughter-in-law are in Nice, have passed on the information
Expressing grief Sonia Gandhi said: "This deadly attack reflects deep resentment to peace and democratic values."
She also expressed deepest condolences to the families of those killed and called for a "strict action and harsh punishment against those who are behind the attack".
"The Congress party stands firmly with the people of France in these difficult times," Mrs Gandhi said.
Leaders stand for a minute of silence for the victims of a deadly attack in the French city of Nice, before the opening session of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. (AFP Photo)
A separate source close to the case said an "inactive" grenade was found inside the 19-tonne truck, as well as "several fake rifles".
I strongly condemn the attack. Our only hope for peace, progress & happiness is a shared humanity.Violence & terror can never be the answer
- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) July 15, 2016
Several children among #NiceAttack victims, says French President @fhollande: 10 updates https://t.co/MKMEj0UTyS pic.twitter.com/vVtqIeuHpc
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 15, 2016
#NiceAttack Nice's famed promenade - A timeless scene of beauty, then a scene of horror https://t.co/lGNOLh84dL pic.twitter.com/s6QpRsWYCf
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 15, 2016
A truck ploughed into a crowd in the French Riviera resort of Nice, killing at least 80 and injuring scores in what President Francois Hollande Friday called a "terrorist" attack on revellers watching a Bastille Day fireworks display. (Video courtesy: Al Jazeera)
#NiceAttack Attacker shot dead, had French-Tunisian identity papers
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 15, 2016
LIVE: https://t.co/LIQTuFgN2x #FranceTruckAttack pic.twitter.com/1gJb1Yf1mb
India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people and Government of France as it responds to this attack #PresidentMukherjee
- President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) July 15, 2016
We will strengthen our cooperation with France and other countries in the fight against terrorism #PresidentMukherjee
- President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) July 15, 2016
French President Francois Hollande said Friday he had called on reservists to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes after an attack in Nice killed 80 people.
France's "operational reservists" include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers. Hollande said they would in particular be used to boost "border controls".
Appalled by the horrific attack in Nice. I strongly condemn such mindless acts of violence. My thoughts are with the families of deceased.
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 15, 2016
I hope the injured recover soon. India shares the pain & stands firmly with our French sisters & brothers in this hour of immense sadness.
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 15, 2016
France is tearful, sorrowful, but it's strong and will always be more than the zealots who want to hit her, he said.
#NiceAttack Our Ambassador in Paris is in touch with the Indian community in Nice. So far no report of any Indians affected
- Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) July 15, 2016
Indian Embassy's Paris helpline: +33-1-40507070
Christian Estrosi said flags would be lowered across the city on Friday. He gave the latest death toll as 77 after a truck plowed into people celebrating Bastille Day at a fireworks display on the city's famous Promenade des Anglais.
Tusk tweeted a photograph of himself and other European and Asian leaders standing in tribute to the Nice victims at the Asia-Europe meeting in Mongolia.
Britain's Foreign Office issued an alert warning British citizens in the Nice area in France to follow the instructions of the French authorities after a Bastille Day attack killed 73 in the Riviera city.