Prosecutor says terror attack in Nice had been planned for months

Five suspects accused of helping the man who drove the truck were charged with terror offences.

Jul 22, 2016 · 07:47 am Updated Jul 22, 2016 · 08:29 am

Prosecutor says terror attack in Nice had been planned for months — Forensics officers and policemen look for evidences in a truck on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera town of Nice on July 15, 2016, after it drove into a crowd watching a fireworks display. An attack in Nice where a man rammed a truck into a crowd of people left 84 dead and another 18 in a "critical condition", interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said Friday. An unidentified gunman barrelled the truck two kilometres (1.3 miles) through a crowd that had been enjoying a fireworks display for France's national day before being shot dead by police. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP | AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat

The attack in Nice, France, that left 84 people dead had been planned for months, prosecutor Francois Molins has said. On July 14, Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a 25-tonne truck into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in Nice. Molins said photos from Bouhlel’s phone showed he likely staked out the event in Nice in 2015.

Five suspects were produced in a French court and charged with terror offences on Thursday, BBC reported. They were accused of providing Bouhlel logistical support ahead of the attack.

The attack left around 300 people injured. French President Francois Hollande declared a three-month emergency in the country following the incident. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve had said the attacker appeared to have been “radicalised very quickly”.

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