Photo by AP
NICE, France (AP) — The Latest on a truck that drove into the crowd in Nice:
Two French police officials say identity papers found alongside the attacker behind a killing spree in southeastern Nice belonged to a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian descent with previous misdemeanor convictions but no known link to extremist groups.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said Friday that the papers were those of Nice resident. They cautioned that DNA and identity checks with acquaintances were pending to fully verify the identity.
The suspect died in a shootout with police after mowing down dozens of people with a truck on Nice’s seaside Promenade des Anglais during national Bastille Day revelry Thursday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office, which is leading the investigation, declined to comment.
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U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby says two Americans were among those killed in Nice on Thursday when a large truck plowed through a crowd gathered for fireworks.
Kirby didn’t identify the individuals by name, citing privacy concerns.
He says the U.S. is providing assistance to those affected by the attack, while the embassy tries to account for all Americans in the Mediterranean city.
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The French Interior Ministry has raised the death toll to 84 from the attack on people celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice. The additional four deaths were apparently from the 18 people who were seriously injured when a truck slammed into the crowds. Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said extra medical-legal police were being sent to Nice to speed the identification process so bodies can be returned to families.
