France mourns dead as driver's motive remains a mystery (Updated Sat.)

France plunged into mourning for the 84 people killed in an attack carried out by a Tunisian-born man who, for unknown reasons, rammed his truck into a holiday crowd in Nice.

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Saturday morning update

France mourns dead as driver's motive remains a mystery

From AFP

France plunged into mourning for the 84 people killed in an attack carried out by a Tunisian-born man who rammed his truck into a  holiday crowd in Nice

At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead, mown down as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel ploughed his lorry through a crowd of thousands watching fireworks for France's national day on Thursday night.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said the Tunisian-born attacker was "completely unknown" to the intelligence services but that the assault was "exactly in line with" calls from jihadist groups to kill.

Valls said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, was "probably linked to radical Islam in one way or another", although Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned it was too early to confirm a link.

According to the driver's father, his son suffered from depression and he was not religious.

"From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... he would break anything he saw in front of him," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said outside his home in the city of Msaken in eastern Tunisia.

He said the family took Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel to a doctor who prescribed medication to counter his depression.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel described his son as "always alone, always depressed" and not wanting to talk.

The white-haired father said the family in Tunisia had almost no contact with his son after he left for France, but he could not say when exactly this was.

"When he left for France we heard nothing more from him," he insisted.

The father also insisted that his son "had no links to religion".

"He didn't pray, he didn't fast, he drank alcohol and even used drugs," he told AFP.

Friday updates

20:30

French President Francois Hollande has just confirmed that 84 were killed in the terrorist attack and he said 50 of the injured were between "life and death". Earlier reports said that 18 people were in critical condition and more deaths are likely. Fifty children were reported to have been treated for injuries and some have dead, but the exact number is not yet known. The dead are from many countries.

By tomorrow, I expect we will know much more about the suspected driver.

19:00

The suspect in the mass killing in Nice France has now been named. Here is the latest from AFP

Neighbours of Nice truck suspect describe a loner

Neighbours of the man suspected to have killed scores of people in a truck attack on the Nice seafront described him Friday as a loner with no visible religious affiliation, as forensic experts searched his flat.

AFP reporters interviewed about a dozen neighbours of the man, named by police as 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, whose identity papers were found in the truck.

They portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not even return greetings when their paths crossed in the four-storey block, located in a working-class neighbourhood of Nice.

Police investigators and forensic experts entered his apartment around 9.30am (0730 GMT) with an armed police intervention unit in support, and brought out bags of material later.

11:35

Here is a short update from AFP:

The truck driver who rammed his vehicle into a massive crowd in Nice fired a pistol several times before being shot dead by police, an investigative source said Friday.

A separate source close to the case said an "inactive" grenade was found inside the 19-tonne truck, as well as "several fake rifles".

The attacker has been shot dead, French President Francois Hollande said.

He is yet to be named, but the identity papers of a 31-year-old French-Tunisian were found in the truck, according to a police source. The papers indicate the man is a Nice resident. (Reports this afternoon say he was known to police, but for ordinary crimes, not for terrorism.)

The attack has not been claimed by any group, but Hollande said in an address to the nation early Friday that the attack was of an "undeniable terrorist nature".

8:35

Possible clues as to the identity of the driver are starting to come out. AFP reports that identity papers belonging to a 31-year-old French-Tunisian were found inside the truck, a police source said Friday.

"The identification of the truck driver is still underway," said the source. The identity papers indicate the man is a resident of Nice.

At least 84 dead in Nice truck attack

Nice, France, AFP – A truck ploughed into a crowd in the French resort of Nice Thursday, leaving at least 84 dead and scores injured in an "attack" after a Bastille Day fireworks display, prosecutors said.

The government said the driver of the truck was shot dead after barrelling down the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais, sending hundreds of terrified people fleeing and leaving the seaside path strewn with fallen bodies.

"An individual drove a truck into the crowd. He was killed by police," said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet.

A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres.

Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at high speed onto the seaside road, described scenes of "absolute chaos".

"We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris," he said.

Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre said at least 70 (since revised to 84) people were killed after the truck drove two kilometres through the crowd.

Hours after the attack, dozens of bodies lay on the ground covered in white sheets.

Local government official Sebastien Humbert said scores more people were injured in what he called "a major criminal attack".

While the incident has not been claimed by any group, prosecutors said the probe would be handled by anti-terrorist investigators.

The bloodshed comes eight months after Islamic State jihadist attacks on Paris nightspots left 130 people dead and scores injured, which already struck a blow to tourism in one of the world's top destinations.

Islamic State has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target, and the country has been under a state of emergency ever since the November 13 Paris attacks.

An Australian citizen, Emily Watkins, was caught up in the chaos, and told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that while she saw the truck, she did not realise what had happened.

"There was a lot of screams coming from ahead of us where the truck was, and people just running towards us and without really knowing what was going on we turned and ran as well.

"People were tripping over and trying to get into hotel lobbies and restaurants or car parks or anywhere they could to get away from the street."

The apparent assault came just hours after France announced that a state of emergency declared after last November's attacks would come to an end later this month.

The incident comes after a day of revelry as France celebrated its national day, Bastille Day, which began with military pomp and ceremony as its armed forces, tanks and fighter jets swooped down the Champs Elysees avenue.

The holiday typically ends with spectacular fireworks over the Eiffel Tower in Paris, as well as cities around the country.

However celebrations were quickly overshadowed.

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