Nice Terror Attack Live Updates: France Death Toll Rises After Truck Crash On Bastille Day

UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. EDT — A terror attack in Nice that saw dozens killed and more than 200 injured could hurt French President Francois Hollande's plans to seek a second five-year term next year, the New York Times reported. His critics slammed him Friday for not doing more to protect France.

Alain Juppé, a former prime minister, told RTL radioFriday morning that "if all the means had been taken, this tragedy would not have occurred." He called for improved intelligence sharing.

Georges Fenech, a center-right lawmaker, called the attack a "predictable tragedy."

UPDATE: 2:14 p.m. EDT — Newt Gingrich blamed reporters Friday for "hysteria" over his comments that the United States should "test" U.S. Muslims about their loyalty to Shariah law.

"The hysteria of the media overreaction to my comments on the Nice attack is very revealing," he wrote on Twitter.

Gingrich called for the U.S. to "monitor the mosques" during a Fox News interview Thursday night soon after a man drove into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in France and killed dozens of people.

"Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background and if they believe in Shariah they should be deported," Gingrich said during the interview. "Shariah is incompatible with Western civilization."

The White House slammed Gingrich Friday over the remarks. "Observations like that, or proposals like that or rhetoric like that are un-American," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "Our nation was founded on the principle that people can choose to worship as they please without harassment from the government."

UPDATE: 2:01 p.m. EDT — Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom paid her respects Friday to the victims in a Bastille Day terror attack in Nice. She sent a message to French President Francois Hollande that read: "I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the terrible loss of life in Nice. Prince Philip and I would like to offer our most sincere condolences to you, the families of those who have died, and the French people. ELIZABETH R."

UPDATE: 1:23 p.m. EDT — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brought flowers to the French embassy in Moscow to honor the victims of a Bastille Day attack in Nice. Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov also signed a book of condolences at the embassy as reporters watched.

UPDATE: 12:53 p.m. EDT — A neighbor of the 31-year-old truck driver who rammed into a crowd of Bastille Day reverlers Thursday night described him as a frightening man and "not normal." It's unclear why Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed dozens of people.

The neighbor, a woman called Hanan, told Reuters he was handsome and always alone. They lived in a building in a low-income neighborhood to the east of downtown Nice.

"He looked at us weirdly, he wouldn't even open the door, when we'd arrive behind he'd slam the door shut. Frankly, not normal," she said.

UPDATE: 12:25 p.m. EDT — A French terror alert app designed to inform residents of a major crisis did not inform people of the Nice terror attack until three hours after a man drove a large truck into a crowd, injuring more than 200 people and killing dozens of others, according to media reports Friday.

"This app had one job, and it didn't even do that," wrote Nathan Lellouche of Nice on Twitter.

The geolocation-based SAIP application should send a red warning screen to Twitter users in an emergency. It was commissioned after November 2015 attacks in Paris killed dozens. It was launched in June. The company that developed the app was being questioned Friday by the French Interior Ministry in Paris, Le Figaro reported.

UPDATE: 11:54 a.m. EDT — French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday that terrorism was the new reality for France.

"The threat of terrorism, as we have now been saying for a long time, is weighing heavily on France, and it will continue to do so for a long time yet," Valls said after an emergency meeting in Paris. "We are facing a war waged on us by terrorism."

UPDATE: 11:29 a.m. EDT — French prosecutor François Molins said Friday a man who drive a truck into a Bastille Day crowd had rented the vehicle three days before the attack and was slated to return it Wednesday.

He said investigators, "looked at attempts of assassinations and any links to terrorist operations. We looked at organized groups and any links to terrorist groups."

The driver was found dead in the passenger seat after exchanging gunfire with police. The vehicle had an automatic firearm, a charger, bullets and one grenade,

The suspect, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a French man of Tunisian descent, lived in Nice and worked as a chauffeur and deliveryman. His ex-wife was detained for questioning Friday morning.

UPDATE: 11:10 a.m. EDT — French prosecutor François Molins said Friday 202 people were injured in a Bastille Day attack in Nice. About 52 of the victims are in a critical state. Of the 84 people who were killed, 10 were children, including a boy from Texas.

Molins said the investigation "was just starting." "The terrorist who drove the truck as you know was shot to prevent him from committing more criminal action," he said. "They have managed to neutralise this person, thus avoiding further victims. I would also like to pay tribute to all state services who were mobilised following this attack."

UPDATE: 10:44 a.m. EDT — The dead suspect in an attack in Nice, France, has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a French man of Tunisian descent who was recently arrested for a fight after a traffic dispute. He was armed at the time.

Police said the motive for the Bastille Day attack remained unknown. He drove a truck into a crowd of people, killing dozens and injuring many more.

UPDATE: 10:30 a.m. EDT — A Muslim mother is among the dead after a French man drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day. Fatima Charrihi was the first victim of the truck attack. "There weren't any other bodies in front of her," her tearful son told the French newspaper L'Express Friday. The man identified as Hamza said the mother of seven was with her nieces and nephews when the attack began.

"She was an amazing mother," Hamza said. "She wore the veil, she practiced real Islam — not like those terrorists."

UPDATE: 9:50 a.m. EDT — French President Francois Hollande said Friday a police officer and about 83 other victims were likely among those killed during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice. The death toll continued to grow as officials investigated the motive of the attack.

"We have visited scores of injured, who have horrendous images in their heads. They are suffering more because of the psychological trauma. Even people who have no signs of physical injury, will carry throughout their lives the trauma of the horrific images they saw," Hollande said. "I have tears in my spirit about this young policeman who acted so that killer should be neutralised, and put an end to the carnage. The security services have answered all the demands and the calls upon them."

Hollande said officials were investigating whether the attacker acted alone.

"There are 50 other people who are still receiving emergency treatment. They are between life and death. Among the victims are French citizens as well as foreigners, who came from all continents. And there are a number of young children who came to watch fireworks with their families, who have been struck down just to satisfy the cruelty of one individual or possibly of a group," he said.

UPDATE: 9:30 a.m. EDT — Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, the French right-wing party that has attracted new followers in recent years with its attacks on immigration, called the Bastille Day attack "a day of terror, of harrowing suffering."

"We must not see terror attacks come after another and count more deaths without taking action," she said, the New York Times reported. "The war against the scourge of Islamist fundamentalism has not begun; it’s now urgent to declare it. We will truly engage in it by implementing a set of measures I have already detailed and which I’ll have the occasion to come back to, which will aim at tackling the roots of the phenomenon."

UPDATE: 8:45 a.m. EDT — Italy’s interior minister, Angelino Alfano, said Friday border security had been increased in Ventimiglia, less than 25 miles from Nice. He said all police stations in Italy needed to remain alert.

Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, pledged Friday to "affirm the values of liberty, equality, fraternity celebrated in France on July 14."

"The horror, the pain of France are our horror, our pain," Mattarella wrote in a statement. "The dead of Nice, of any nationality, are our dead."

UPDATE: 8:15 a.m. EDT — The driver of the truck that rammed a crowd in Nice celebrating Bastille Day Thursday night stopped only after a person “with extraordinary courage” jumped in front of the vehicle to stop it, a witness said.

"It was at that moment that the police were able to stop the terrorist," Éric Ciotti, a lawmaker for the department of Alpes-Maritimes, told Europe 1 radio Friday.

UPDATE: 7:30 a.m. EDT — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was in Nice just hours before the attack, NBC News reported. He was teaching a course in the French resort town with the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in California, a spokesman told NBC San Diego. He was a substitute for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had been scheduled to participate in the study abroad program before he died earlier this year, the school said.

"Justice Scalia would be proud to have Justice Thomas teach Constitutional Law in his place, a subject about which the late Justice Scalia was passionate," Thomas Guernsey, president and dean of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, said in a statement in March.

UPDATE: 6:40 a.m. EDT — An ID found with the Nice truck attacker is of a 31-year-old petty criminal who is French of Tunisian descent, the Associated Press reported, citing police.

French President François Hollande has reached Nice, the site of the truck attack that killed 84 people, to hold a meeting with security officials. Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve were also attending the meeting, according to reports.

Meanwhile, new British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a speech Friday, after the attacks in Nice, that the possibility of a terrorist attack in the U.K. was "highly likely" and that police in the country would be given more powers and funding to fight the threat, British media reported.

UPDATE: 6:09 a.m. EDT — The U.S. Department of State confirmed Friday that two Americans were killed in a truck attack in the southern French city of Nice during Bastille Day celebrations.

A family representative told NBC News that Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son Brodie were killed. They were residents of Lakeway, Texas.

"We are heartbroken and in shock over the loss of Brodie Copeland, an amazing son and brother who lit up our lives, and Sean Copeland, a wonderful husband and father," the family said in a statement distributed by friend Jess Davis. "They are so loved."

UPDATE: 5:35 a.m. EDT — The Nice attack truck driver has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, Nice-Matin.com reported, citing police sources. French media had earlier reported that the driver was a 31-year-old Nice resident with dual French-Tunisian nationality.

UPDATE: 5:04 a.m. EDT — German police said they are tightening checks on the border with France after a truck driver ploughed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice, killing 84 people, the Associated Press (AP) reported. About 50 children and adolescents have been injured in the attack.

Meanwhile, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that he will be "reviewing our own safety measures," following the deadly attack. He said that the city would "stand united" with France and "poisonous and twisted' terrorists would be defeated.

"I will reassure all Londoners that today we will be reviewing our own safety measures in light of this attack and that I and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner will do everything possible to keep Londoners safe," Khan said.

UPDATE: 4:26 a.m. EDT — The truck driver who rammed the vehicle into people celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice has been formally identified, but the suspect’s name has yet to be released, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a police source.

French media had reported that the driver was a 31-year-old Nice resident of dual French-Tunisian nationality. A three-day national mourning has been declared in France after the attack.

Meanwhile, the Vatican reacted to the attack, which claimed 84 lives. "We have followed during the night, with the greatest concern, the terrible news which has come from Nice," Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman said.

"We want to make known, on the part of Pope Francis and ourselves, our sharing and solidarity in the suffering of the victims and all the French people, in what was supposed to be a great day of celebration," he said, adding, "We condemn in an absolute manner every manifestation of homicidal folly, hatred, terrorism, and attacks against peace."

UPDATE: 1:59 a.m. EDT — Russia criticized the truck attack that killed 84 people in the southern French city of Nice during Bastille Day celebrations.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev condemned the attack and offered condolences. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "Let’s do it together, because we are all the same when we die at the hands of terrorists and extremists. It’s time to smooth over our differences before this kind of tragedy, and not only afterwards."

UPDATE: 12:26 a.m. EDT — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the truck attack on French citizens celebrating Bastille Day in the southern city of Nice. Li said "we strongly condemn terrorism of all forms. We express our condolences to the victims and we will fight all kinds of terrorism."

UPDATE: 12:07 a.m. EDT — The driver of the Nice truck had fired a pistol several times before he was killed by police, an investigative source told Agence France-Presse. Another source told the news agency that “inactive” grenade and “several fake rifles” were found inside the 19-ton truck that was rammed into people celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city. French TV station BFM reported that the driver was known to police, however, not for any links to terrorism.

UPDATE: 11:28 p.m. EDT — French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have expressed condolences for Thursday evening’s terror attack in the southern French city of Nice that has left 80 dead so far.

Valls' tweet in French read: "The city of Nice has been hit by terrorism on the day of our national holiday. Immense pain, the country is in mourning. The French will face it."

Turnbull called the attack a "murderous act of terror."

"Only eight months ago we mourned for the victims of terrorist attacks in Paris. Now once again we mourn for the victims of another murderous act of terror in France overnight, on Bastille Day," Turnbull said, in a statement.

The attack took place when people were celebrating Bastille Day in the city. French police have reportedly killed the driver, who was identified by French media as a 31-year-old Nice resident with dual French-Tunisian nationality. The media reports said a driver’s ID card was found in the truck.

UPDATE: 9:18 p.m. EDT -- The driver who rammed into a crowd in Nice, France, was a 31-year-old French-Tunsian citizen, according to the French newspaper Nice Matin. More than 70 people were killed in the Bastille Day attack.

UPDATE: 9:10 p.m. EDT — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called a mass attack in Nice, France, a strike, "against innocent people on a day that celebrates Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." A driver rammed into a crowd on Bastille Day as firework celebrations ended.

"On behalf of all Americans, and especially the great many with close ties to France, I offer our deepest condolences to the friends and family of those who were killed and our hopes for a speedy recovery to those who were injured," Kerry said in a statement. "I was proud to stand alongside French leaders earlier today at Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, and the United States will continue to stand firmly with the French people during this time of tragedy. We will provide whatever support is needed. Our embassy in Paris is making every effort to account for the welfare of U.S. citizens in Nice. Any U.S. citizens in Nice should contact friends and family directly to inform them of their well being."

UPDATE: 9:04 p.m. EDT — Islamic State group supporters praised an attack in Nice, France, that killed dozens of people and left many more injured. The militants said they would continue to attack France, which has struggled to fight terrorism after a mass attack in Paris in November left dozens dead.

UPDATE: 8:58 p.m. EDT — A journalist from the French newspaper Nice Matin described the bloodshed Thursday night after a driver struck a crowd celebrating Bastille Day. Damien Allemand said a fireworks display had ended and the crowd was heading home.

"A fraction of a second later, an enormous white truck came along at a crazy speed, turning the wheel to mow down the maximum number of people," he said. "I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget."

He saw bodies, blood and body parts in the street, he recalled. "This evening, it was horror," Allemand concluded.

UPDATE: 8:43 p.m. EDT — The death toll in a terror attack in Nice, France, that saw a driver ram into a crowded street during Bastille Day celebrations, climbed to 75 people, according to media reports. The driver was traveling at high speed along the famed Promenade des Anglais seafront when he hit a mass of spectators watching a fireworks show.

Police killed the driver, "apparently after an exchange of gunfire," local media reported.

UPDATE: 8:26 p.m. EDT — The president of the Nice regional council, Christian Estrosi, said the French resort town was working together Thursday night after a driver rammed into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day.

"This is the worst catastrophe our region has seen in modern history. We now have to mobilize all of our services," he said.

UPDATE: 8:08 p.m. EDT — U.S. President Barack Obama praised France's democratic values and lamented the "tragic loss of life" after a driver attacked Thursday night a crowd of people in the resort town of Nice. He offered U.S. support to French officials as the European nation marked Bastille Day, a national day of celebration.

A French Interior Ministry spokesman said: "Investigations are currently under way to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled."

UPDATE: 8:00 p.m. EDT — At midnight in Nice, France, no group had yet claimed responsibility for the truck attack that killed and injured dozens of people. Regional mayor Christian Estrosi told local residents to shelter in place and await further information.

UPDATE: 7:50 p.m. EDT — Just before a terror attack in Nice, France, that saw a driver loaded with weapons ram into a crowd at high speed, killing dozens of people, French President Francois Hollande had said he would let a national state of emergency lapse on July 26. The security measure had been put into place after a mass terror attack in Paris in November that was carried out by Islamic State group supporters.

"We can't extend the state of emergency indefinitely, it would make no sense. That would mean we're no longer a republic with the rule of law applied in all circumstances," Hollande told journalists.

UPDATE: 7:42 p.m. EDT — A truck driver who rammed into a crowd of people in Nice, France, Thursday night was carrying arms and grenades, according to reports from Reuters and The Associated Press.

British Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Barack Obama said they were following the updates in Nice. May said her thoughts were with the victims in the "terrible incident."

UPDATE: 7:35 p.m. EDT — The death toll in Nice, France, climbed to more than 73 victims Thursday night after a driver rammed a crowd of people with a truck in a suspected terror attack. The streets were full of people watching fireworks to mark Bastille Day, the nation's national day of celebration.

Jimmy Ghazal, 39, a Lebanese man visiting the French resort town with his family, told ABC News that he heard people screaming and the sound of gunshots. Ghazal said he saw a big truck drive "through all the security.”

"The kids thought it was part of the fireworks," he told ABC News. "We just told them it was part of the fireworks.”

UPDATE: 7:20 p.m. EDT — Republican Donald Trump delayed his Friday morning vice president announcement after a driver plowed into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in France Thursday night, killing up to 60 people.

"In light of the horrible attack in Nice, France, I have postponed tomorrow's news conference concerning my Vice Presidential announcement," he tweeted.

Original story:

More than 100 were injured and at least 30 were killed after a driver rammed his truck into a crowd of people in Nice, France, in a suspected terror attack. French President Francois Hollande headed to his crisis center after the attack that unfolded as fireworks erupted in the sky on Bastille Day, a national day of celebration.

As many as 60 people were reported dead in conflicting media reports as the details began to be made public. The driver was shot soon after the attack. It was not immediately known whether he acted alone. Witnesses reported gunshots and posted images of dead bodies, the New York Times reported.

"People were running - it's panic," a journalist from Nice told Le Monde. "The scene is awash in blood of the wounded."

The attack came after France lost dozens of citizens in a mass terror attack in Paris in November. That attack was carried out by Belgium nationals who had pledged support for the Islamic State group. Other mass killings have unfolded in the United States, Brussels, Iraq and other nations battling supporters from the militant network also known as ISIS.

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, tweeted out Thursday soon after the attack: "Dear Nice, the driver of a truck seems to have left dozens dead."

The sub-prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, Sébastien Humbert, told the French network BFMTV: "There are several dozen dead. The total is very high, thirty dead. Maybe 100 wounded. There was a truck that drove into the crowd, over a very long distance. There were shots. The driver was shot. This is on a big scale."

In the United States, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has promised to improve national security by banning Muslims, quickly linked the crash to terror. "Another horrific attack, this time in Nice, France. Many dead and injured. When will we learn? It is only getting worse," he tweeted.