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Dozens of people were mowed down by a cargo truck in Nice as they were celebrating Bastille Day. French President Francois Hollande condemned the attack and extended the state of emergency for three months. USA TODAY NETWORK
Police researchers inspect the scene where a truck crashed late 14 July 2016 into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France, 15 July 2016.(Photo: ALBERTO ESTEVEZ, EPA)
A<span style="color: Red;">*</span>truck plowed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, on Thursday, killing at least 84 people, including two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Americans,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and injuring dozens of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>others, French officials said.
The driver of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>large white commercial truck killed scores of people as he paved his way<span style="color: Red;">*</span>into a pedestrian-only area as crowds watched<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bastille Day<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fireworks. The driver was eventually<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shot dead by police.
The attack marks<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the third time France has endured gruesome carnage on its own soil in the past year and a half.
Here's what we know:
[h=2]What took place?[/h]A truck<span style="color: Red;">*</span>smashed through bystanders near the iconic<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Promenade des Anglais in Nice. People<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were observing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bastille Day: the anniversary of a mob<span style="color: Red;">*</span>storming<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a looming fortress that held political prisoners two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>days after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>French Revolution<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Paris started in 1789.
[h=2]Who was the truck driver?[/h]Two French police officials say identity papers found alongside the attacker<span style="color: Red;">*</span>belonged to a 31-year-old Frenchman with previous misdemeanor convictions but no known link to extremist groups, according to the Associated Press.
Local French media report<span style="color: Red;">*</span>say officials have<span style="color: Red;">*</span>identified him as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel and that police searched his apartment Friday morning.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, cautioned that DNA and identity checks with acquaintances were pending to fully verify the identity.
[h=2]<span style="color: Red;">*</span>[/h][h=2]Is a terror group responsible?<span style="color: Red;">*</span>[/h]It's unclear whether the driver attacked alone, or if he was part of a larger terror group. No group has taken responsibility for the attack, though<span style="color: Red;">*</span>France president Francois Hollande said the truck attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was of a "terrorist character."
Christian Estrosi,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>regional council president of the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, called for the investigation to focus on any accomplices, the Associated Press reported. “Attacks aren’t prepared alone. Attacks are prepared with accomplices.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>There is a chain of complicity. I expect it to be unveiled, discovered and kept up to date,” he said.
[h=2]Who are the victims?[/h]Estrosi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said more than 10 children were among the dead. Fifty<span style="color: Red;">*</span>people remain in critical condition, many of whom are children, according to Hollande.
Two Americans were killed in the attack, according to the U.S. Department of State. A family spokesperson<span style="color: Red;">*</span>confirmed that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Brodie were killed in the attacks,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Austin<span style="color: Red;">*</span>American-Statesman<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reported.<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>Copeland, 52,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was from Austin, Texas. The two have not been named by authorities.
Hill Country Baseball club<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wrote<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a Facebook post: "You are in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers. Rest in peace, Brodie and Sean, you will be remembered by many."
[h=2]What was it like during the attack?<span style="color: Red;">*</span>[/h]Video footage showed men and women — one or two pushing strollers — racing to get away from the promenade with broken bodies splayed out on the asphalt, some of them piled near one another, others bleeding out onto the roadway or twisted into unnatural shapes.
Witnesses described the horrific scene<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in gruesome detail.
"The driver was obviously determined to crash —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the truck drove onto the pavement<span style="color: Red;">*</span>eight feet from where we were standing," a witness told a newspaper in Nice-Matin.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"I saw people fall, a small child on the ground."
"Thank God we decided not to take the young ones" to see the Bastille Day fireworks, witness Yves Lamorelle told USA TODAY.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"I am the only one who went. It was completely crazy, the crowd panicked and everyone was trying to flee."
[h=2]How far did the truck drive?<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>[/h]The truck driver plowed into the unsuspecting crowd over a distance of 2 kilometers (1.2 miles), a local official said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Estrosi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said surveillance footage showed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the attacker boarded the truck<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“in the hills of Nice.”
Sylvie<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Toffin, a press officer with the local prefecture, said the truck ran over people down the sidewalk near Nice’s Palais de la Mediterranee, a building that fronts the famous seaside boulevard.
“A person jumped onto the truck to try to stop it,”<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Eric Ciotti, a local lawmaker,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told Europe 1 radio.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“It’s at that moment that the police were able to neutralize this terrorist. I won’t forget the look of this policewoman who intercepted the killer.”
[h=2]How many deaths and injuries?[/h]The death toll increased through the night,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>totaling<span style="color: Red;">*</span>84, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>early Friday, The attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>left another 50 people injured in the resort town, French officials said. 18 people remain in critical condition, the Associated Press reported.
[h=2]What was found inside the truck?[/h]Estrosi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said the truck was loaded with arms and grenades. He<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told BFM-TV that “the driver fired on the crowd, according to the police who killed him.”
[h=2]What's next?[/h]Hollande summoned a defense council meeting Friday with other key ministers and officials, before heading to Nice. The French leader plans to call up additional<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reserves to help police, particularly at French borders.
Hollande spoke to the nation hours after the attack and extended France's state of emergency by three months. The state of emergency, originally scheduled to end July 26, was in place stemming<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from the January and November 2015 attacks that, together, left almost 150 people dead.
“We have to demonstrate absolute vigilance,” Hollande said in his press conference, adding, “We have to increase ... our level of protection. France as a whole is under threat of Islamic terrorism."
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also announced three days of national morning, starting Saturday.
[h=2]What's the reaction in the U.S.?<span style="color: Red;">*</span>[/h]President Obama condemned the terror attack, while presidential hopefuls Donal Trump and Hillary Clinton agreed that the incident was another declaration of war.
“This is war,”<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after the apparent terrorist attack.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton, in rare unanimity, agreed. “We've got to do more to understand that this is a war against these terrorist groups, the radical jihadist groups,” she said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on Fox News.
Contributing: Associated Press
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