The death toll as a result of the Nice terrorist attack has reached 84, RIA Novosti reported citing the statement made by France’s Interior Ministry.

Dozens of people were killed in the French Riviera city of Nice late on Thursday when a truck ploughed into crowds watching a fireworks display on France`s Bastille Day national holiday, the mayor said on Twitter, Reuters reported.





Regional newspaper Nice Matin quoted its own reporter at the scene saying there were many injured people and blood on the street. It published a photograph of a damaged, long-distance delivery truck, which it said was "riddled with bullets" and images of emergency services treating the injured.



***

French President Francois Hollande after `terror attack` kills up to 80 in Nice, in his address in Paris, said that a state of emergency that had been due to expire on July 26 would be extended by three months, The Guardian reports .



French President Francoise Hollande said that it could not be denied that the incident was a "terror attack," according to a Reuters translation of the president`s address on the deadly event.

Police shot and killed the driver, who drove a 25-ton, unmarked truck at high speed for more than 100 meters along the famed Promenade des Anglais seafront in the southern resort town before hitting a mass of spectators, regional sub-prefect Sebastien Humbert had told France Info radio.



The incident occurred around 10.40 p.m. local time. Photographs of the truck show its windshield scored by bullet holes and its front grille destroyed.

In his address in Paris, Hollande said that 77 people had been killed in the attack and that a state of emergency that had been due to expire on July 26 would be extended by three months.





The president also said that the country would maintain the 10,000-strong additional military force that was working on security operations. He said he would travel to Nice on Friday to support the region.



The death toll had mounted throughout the evening in France, rising swiftly from an estimated 60 dead. CNBC was unable to independently confirm the numbers.



According to Reuters, regional president Christian Estrosi told BFM TV that the driver had opened fire on the crowd and that weapons and grenades were found
inside the truck after the attacker was killed by police.



Humbert described it as a clear criminal attack, although the driver was not yet identified. Residents of the Mediterranean city close to the Italian border were advised to stay indoors. There was no sign of any other attack, nor any immediate claim of responsibility.

More about: