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2016 Nice attack
The Promenade des Anglais, where the attack took place
Route of the attacker from west to east
Location	Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France
Coordinates	43°41′37″N 7°15′21″E / 43.6936°N 7.2557°E / 43.6936; 7.2557
Date	14 July 2016 (Bastille Day) c. 22:40 CEST (UTC+02:00)
Attack type	Vehicular assault
Weapons	Cargo truck and a handgun. A Colt M16 and hand grenades were also found inside the truck.
Deaths	85+ (including the perpetrator)
Injured	303 (18 critically)
Assailant	Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel

On the evening of 14 July 2016, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian resident of France, deliberately drove a 19-tonne cargo truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, killing 84 people and injuring more than 300. Bouhlel was shot and killed by police.

The incident has been described as the third major terrorist attack in France since January 2015, following the Île-de-France attacks on 7–9 January 2015 and the Paris attacks on 13 November 2015. On July 16, Amaq News Agency, an online presence said to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), called Bouhlel "one of the soldiers of Islamic State." It cited a "security source" which said Bouhlel "carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State".

Background

On the morning before the attack, French President François Hollande said the state of emergency put in place after the November 2015 Paris attacks would end after the Tour de France finished on 26 July 2016. France had just finished hosting the Euro 2016 football tournament, during which the country had extensive security measures in place and deployed many soldiers. Some matches were played in Nice, ending with the England–Iceland match on 27 June.

On the evening of 14 July, tens of thousands of people were celebrating Bastille Day on the Nice waterfront. As well as the customary fireworks, the celebrations included an air force display.

Attack

11 July:

• Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel rented a 19-ton Renault Midlum from Via Location in Saint-Laurent-du-Var.

14 July:

• 22:00-22:30 - Some 30,000 watch fireworks near the Promenade des Anglais.
• Soon after 22:30 - Bouhlel turned the truck onto Promenade des Anglais.
• 22:45-23:00 - The driver was shot dead by police.

All times are CEST (UTC+2).

At approximately 22:10 CEST (20:10 UTC), 30 minutes before the incident, a 19-tonne Renault Midlum white cargo truck was seen approaching the Promenade des Anglais, driving erratically. "He was speeding up, braking, speeding up again and braking again," according to a witness. The truck then turned on to the Promenade and headed southwest, but then doubled back again.

The fireworks were finishing at approximately 22:40 CEST (20:40 UTC), when the truck slowly breached the vehicle barriers opposite the Lenval children's hospital. A motorcyclist pursued the truck and attempted to pull open the driver's side door, but fell under the wheels and was crushed, leaving them gravely injured. Watching this, two nearby police officers opened fire on the truck. At this point, the driver sped up, drove northeast, and plunged into the crowds on the Promenade, swerving to hit pedestrians. Police tried to stop it with gunfire, and the driver shot back at them, as well as at people in the crowd. The driver continued for 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), killing and injuring pedestrians. According to eyewitness Éric Ciotti, an individual jumped onto the truck, distracting and drawing gunfire from the driver while the police surrounded the truck near the Palais de la Méditerranée hotel. The vehicle was raked with bullets and the driver killed.

Police recovered a magazine, a pistol, an empty grenade, and replica Kalashnikov and M16 rifles from the truck.

Perpetrator

After the attack, the French authorities identified the perpetrator as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old man of Tunisian nationality, born in Tunisia, with a French residency permit and living in Nice. The French prosecutor François Molins described Bouhlel as divorced with three children. Bouhlel lived a solitary life and reportedly never showed interest in religion. According to his father, Bouhlel had undergone psychiatric treatment. According to media reports, Bouhlel was known to police for five prior criminal offences, notably regarding armed violence. He was not registered as a national security risk (fiche "S") with French authorities. At the time of the attack, Bouhlel was not known by Tunisian authorities to have been involved in any terrorism activities in Tunisia. He was also not linked to terrorist organizations or any militant extremists that have recently staged attacks on France.

Victims

Nationalities of victims

Nationality	Dead	Injured	Ref.
Algeria	3
Armenia	2
Australia		3
Belgium	1	1
Brazil		2
China		2
Czech Republic		1
Estonia		4
France	23
Georgia	1
Germany	3	2
Hungary		1
Ireland		1
Italy		3
Kazakhstan	4
Madagascar	2	4
Malaysia		1
Morocco	3	1
Netherlands		3
Poland	2
Portugal		1
Romania		4
Russia	1	1
Singapore		1
Switzerland	2
Tunisia	4
Ukraine	1	2
United Kingdom	1
United States	3
Not yet confirmed	29	172
Total	84+	208

Bouhlel killed 84 people and injured 202, 52 critically; 25 remained on life support the next day. At least 10 of the dead were children or teenagers. As many injured had not immediately reached out for help, the total number of injured was raised to 303 on 16 July. Along with many French, numerous foreigners also died.

Investigation

The French prosecutor said the attack "bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism" but that no group had claimed responsibility for the attack, and a preliminary investigation by French officials has not connected Bouhlel to any international terror groups.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Bouhlel was "probably linked to radical Islam in one way or another", and put the attack in the context of a "war" against terrorism and radical Islam both outside and within France. This claim was initially cautioned by the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve who said "We have an individual who was not known to intelligence services for activities linked to radical Islam" and who could not confirm Bouhlel's motives were linked to jihadism.

On 15 July, Bouhlel's estranged wife and a man were arrested, followed by three more men the next day. The French prosecutor's office did not immediately disclose who the men are or why anyone was detained. The next day, Cazeneuve stated that "It seems that he radicalized himself very quickly," as part of findings in early investigations. A source close to the investigation stated to CNN that local associates of Bouhlel who were detained for questioning said that he had started speaking in support of ISIL in the days before the attack.

Two days after the attack, Amaq News Agency, an online presence said to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), called Bouhlel "one of the soldiers of Islamic State." It cited a "security source" which said Bouhlel "carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State". French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian claimed the attacks were linked to ISIL, also known as Daesh. He said that "I remind you that Daesh's ideologue, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has for several weeks repeated calls to attack directly, even individually, Frenchmen, in particular, or Americans, wherever they are, by any means necessary," adding that "Even if Daesh doesn’t do the organizing, Daesh inspires this terrorist spirit, against which we are fighting."

On 17 July two further arrests, a man and a woman, were made in Nice as a result of police raids the day before. The two Albanians were suspected of helping Bouhlel obtain the gun used in the attack. Phone records has shown that Bhoulel had contact with some of the six arrested before the attack, as well as known Islamic radicals in his neighbourhood. Bhoulel was found to have sent text messages to an unidentified contact during the attack, asking for "more weapons". According to media sources, police investigators discovered CCTV footage showing Bouhlel in his rented truck closely surveying the area of the attack on 12 and 13 July.

Reactions

Immediately after the attack, when it remained unclear whether the threat had ended, people used social media, particularly Twitter, to help others find shelter, using the hashtag #PortesOuvertesNice (Open Doors Nice), a variation of a hashtag used in other recent attacks in France.

President François Hollande returned to Paris from Avignon to have an emergency Interior Ministry meeting regarding the attacks. Hollande addressed the French nation in a televised broadcast from Paris in the early morning of 15 July 2016 announcing future measures against terrorism, including a three-month extension of the state of emergency, previously due to end on 26 July. In the speech he said "There's no denying the terrorist nature of this attack". He also announced more security personnel would be deployed. The Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls later announced three days of national mourning on 16–18 July.

Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve initiated the ORSEC plan immediately following the attacks. Minister Cazeneuveon later announced plans to increase security in response to the attack by calling 12,000 police reservists to add to the 120,000 person force. Cazeneuve urged "all patriotic citizens" to join the reserve forces to boost security following the attacks.

See also

• List of massacres in France
• List of terrorist incidents in July 2016
• List of Islamist terrorist attacks
• Terrorism in France
• Vehicular assault as a terrorist tactic

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