Nice terror update: 84 killed, including “many” children, in devastating attack
France’s interior ministry has confirmed that at least 84 people are dead following a terror attack on a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, late Thursday.
The attacker drove a lorry into celebrating crowd while also shooting at them shortly after the end of a firework display on the seafront for Bastille Day, the country’s national holiday.
According to eye witness account, the speeding lorry swerved and zigzagged in an apparent attempt to hit more people.
The death toll includes many children, reports say.
Many others are believed to have been injured in the terror attack.
A children’s hospital in the city says it has treated some 50 children and adolescents injured in the incident. Two of them died during or after surgery.
Their injuries included fractures and head injuries, the hospital’s communications director said, adding that some of them remain in a “life and death” condition.
The driver of the lorry was shot dead by police, Thursday night.
Watch moment police in Nice fired into the truck’s cab
According to French media reports, he has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who lived locally
The attack was of “an undeniable terrorist nature”, president Francois Hollande said.
French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls has declared three days of national mourning, beginning on Saturday.
This is the second terror related attack on France in 2016 following the November 2015 attack on Paris which left 130 people dead and more than 350 others injured..
