Nice - France has declared three days of national mourning from Saturday after a gunman at the wheel of a heavy truck ploughed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice late on Thursday, killing at least 84 people and injuring scores more, the prime minister said.
Manuel Valls also told reporters that the government wants to extend the state of emergency which has been in force since the November 13 Paris attacks, until October.
Flags will be flown at half-mast from Friday, and a law extending increased powers for the police will be put before parliament next week, he said.
“Times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism, and we must face this together and show our collective sang-froid,” he said.
. @manuelvalls: 17th and 18th of July will be days of national mourning for #NiceAttack victims https://t.co/qB9wyPNk7n
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 15, 2016
“France is a great country and a great democracy and we will not allow ourselves to be destabilised,” he added.
“We want to bring the French nation together. The only dignified response (to the attack) is for France to stick with the spirit of July 14, a France that is united around its values,” he said.
Bastille Day is the country's national holiday and marks the start of the French Revolution in 1789.
It is celebrated with military parades and fireworks displays across the country, and is the traditional start of the holiday session.
AFP and Reuters