Terror on wheels: 84 die in France

Police shot the driver dead after he drove the truck two kilometres through a crowd along the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais. Authorities said they found identity papers belonging to a 31-year-old French-Tunisian citizen in the truck, as well as “guns” and “larger weapons”. The attack, the latest in a string of many to hit France, was of an “undeniable terrorist nature,” said French President Francois Hollande. He also confirmed that “several children” were among the dead. 

The bloodshed came on Bastille Day, a celebration of everything France holds dear, its secular republic and the values of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity). The attacker struck after 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. 

A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged. A lone doll lay abandoned on the promenade where families celebrated the holiday just hours earlier. “France was struck on its national day, the symbol of freedom,” said Hollande. The attack is the third major strike against France in less than 18 months and prosecutors said anti-terrorist investigators would handle the probe. It comes eight months after Islamic State attacks on Paris nightspots left 130 people dead, dealing a hard blow to tourism in one of the world’s top destinations. 

US President Barack Obama condemned “what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack”, although no group had yet claimed responsibility. Hollande announced he would extend France’s state of emergency for three months in the wake of this latest attack and “step up” the government’s action against jihadists in Syria and Iraq. He also called up army reservists to bolster the country’s security services that are stretched to the limit.