News-Bastille Day truck attack: French president denounces 'monstrous' killing of 80 people

A large truck has ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice. The crash, which left at least 80 people dead, including several children and 18 seriously injured, is being treated as a terrorist attack. The driver of the truck was shot dead by police. They are trying to determine if he had accomplices. Authorities said the man had been firing on the crowd and police as he drove, and that the truck was loaded with weapons and grenades. Unverified reports said the rifles were fake and the grenade was ‘inactive’. Witnesses said the driver was “zigzagging” so he could hit as many people as possible. It was reported that he drove into the crowd for 2km at a speed of about 50km/h. Some told of parents frantically throwing their children over fences to avoid them being struck by the lorry as a “stampede” of people rushed down the Promenade de Anglais. Unconfirmed reports in French media said an ID card belonging to a 31-year-old resident of Nice who had dual French-Tunisian nationality had been found in the truck. Reports said he was known to police, but not for terrorist-related activity. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. François Hollande, the French president, described the attack as a “monstrosity” and said soldiers would be deployed to support gendarmes and police, particularly at the country’s borders. He said the attack was “terrorist in nature” and vowed France would always be stronger than the fanatics that want to attack her. The country’s state of emergency, which was due to expire on 26 July, is to be extended for three months. The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said: “We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent.” Prime minister Manuel Valls said the country was in “immense pain”. Hollande is on his way to Paris from Avignon to chair an emergency security and defence meeting at 9am on Friday. He will then head to Nice with prime minister Manuel Valls. Cazeneuve is in Nice. World leaders, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have condemned the attack. Donald Trump has postponed the announcement of his running mate. Nice hospitals have launched an appeal for blood donations in the wake of the attack.

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