Thursday, July 14

Identity papers of French Tunisian found in truck used in vehicular massacre in Nice UPDATED 10:47, 11:33 PM EDT July 14. July 15: 1:42, 1:50, 2:15 AM, 12:28 PM EDT

UPDATE 12:28 PM EDT July 15
An NBC report published at 12:10 PM EDT has the latest news on the attack and also publishes all that the French authorities are revealing up to this point about the attacker.  

UPDATE 2:15 AM EDT July 15 (this will be my last update this morning)
Re 1:42 AM update: Correction taken from Sputnik report updated 7:56 7/1:  the perp was known to police for small crimes but "never investigated by intelligence according to iTELE." 

Also from same Sputnik report:

"The weapons found inside the Nice attack truck include an "inoperable" grenade and "dummy long arms," iTELE reports." Also, the truck was rented several days before the attack. 

RT mentions that driver reportedly shouted, "Allahu Akbar!" before starting attack.   

UPDATE 1:50 AM July 15 
AFP Twitter page:
- death toll now at 84 according to Interior Ministry
- driver of truck fired pistol before being shot dead by police: from "investigative sources"

UPDATE 1:42 AM July 15
"Just in from Reuters" - WTOP radio Washington, DC 1:30 AM EDT news break: Attacker was known to police in Nice for common crimes but no record linking him to terrorism. I haven't seen this included in 1:30 AM EDT updated report at Reuters site.

UPDATE 11:33 PM 
Sputnik report updated 05:20 - 15.07.2016):

The driver of the truck that killed at least 80 people in Nice on Thursday evening was a 31-year-old resident born in Tunisia, according to French newspaper Nice Matin.

The attack occurred when the driver plowed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day during a firework display along the city's waterfront. He drove for more than a mile before being shot dead by police, according to French Interior Ministry spokesperson Pierre-Henry Brandet.

"Investigations are currently underway to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled," Brandet said.

Heavy weapons and grenades were found inside the truck.

French newspaper Le Figaro reports that the driver fired at the crowd as he drove.
[...]

UPDATE 11:25 PM EDT
From John Batchelor Show 11:10 PM EDT
Unconfirmed reports of "several" armed men running from the truck used in the massacre after it was stopped.  Men were reported running toward the direction of a Muslim quarter in Nice.  The speculation is that a larger attack was planned but aborted. If all these reports and speculation pans out, it's possible that the terrorists changed plan if they ran into a routine police crowd-control barrier because of the large crowd attending the fireworks. In any case police found the truck loaded with guns and grenades.   

UPDATE 10:47 PM EDT
AFP Twitter page 24 minutes ago: French interior minister confirms death toll from attack has risen to 80.
***
The information about identity papers is from Agence France Presse news agency Twitter page posted at 9:40 PM EDT.  AFP got the information from a police source.

Sputnik is reporting that according to a French prosecutor there are at least 80 killed and about 120 injured. From an earlier report at another website 47 of the injured are in critical condition; the report cited a lower death toll so it could be that some of the critically wounded have since died. 

Here is an NBC News report, filed at 9:36 PM EDT, on the situation. (Update: Latest version of NBC report was filed at 10:46 and reflects 80 death toll with 18 critically injured. ) NBC reports that the incident happened at around 10:40 PM local time (4:40 PM EDT), when a large truck deliberately plowed into a large crowd of people who'd just watched Bastille Day fireworks: 
Estrosi, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region that includes Nice, told French media that the driver also shot at people and was fatally shot by police. A senior U.S. military official told NBC News that guns and explosives were found in the truck.
My deepest condolences to families of the victims and the people of France, and with prayers for the swift recovery of the injured.

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