SECOND UPDATE: 77 now reported dead, hundreds injured, 42 in critical condition; weapons and grenades found inside the truck.
UPDATE: Supporters of Islamic State celebrating massacre.
Unconfirmed reports are saying that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the breaking news attack in Nice, France where a large tractor-trailer accelerated and plowed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day.
As this report states, the Islamic State is well known “for using vehicles in terrorist attacks, often packing them with explosives for maximum effect.”
And according to SITE Intelligence Group, the Islamic State has previously called for attacks using vehicles. SITE also reported that supporters of IS have been sharing news of the Nice attack and “celebrating” the murders.
Pro-Islamic State forums are also re-posting old messages of the Islamic State urging followers to carry out lone wolf attacks.
At least 73 people are dead and over 100 injured. Some reports say, the injured are in the hundreds.
“Nice, France, truck attack kills 73, official tells French TV”, by Ralph Ellis and Steve Almasy, CNN, June 14, 2016:
At least 73 people were killed Thursday night when a large truck plowed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, the Nice prosecutor’s office said, according to French media.
The driver pointed his tractor-trailer into the crowd and accelerated, mowing bodies over. The driver was shot to death, authorities said. At least 100 people were injured, authorities said.Here are the latest developments in the tragedy:• The attack in Nice, France, began when an occupant of the truck shot into the crowd and then drove for 2 kilometers along the pavement of the Boulevard des Anglais, the main street in Nice, regional President Christian Estrosi told CNN affiliate BFM-TV. He said police later found firearms, explosives and grenades in the truck.• Anti-terror prosecutors have joined the investigation, according to BFMTV, citing the Prosecutor’s office.• Preliminary information from French officials is that there was one individual in the truck, according to a U.S. law enforcement official briefed on the attack. The individual, a male, was killed by police and it does not appear there was any gunfire from the truck, according to the official.• Subprefect Sebastien Humbert, of the Alpes-Maritimes region, described the incident as a “major criminal attack,” according to AFP.• The driver of the truck that drove into the crowd was shot dead by police, said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for French Interior Ministry. There was no hostage situation at any point, he said.• U.S. President Barack Obama has been apprised of the situation in Nice and his national security team will update him, said National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price.• Witness Tony Molina said he can see 70-100 emergency vehicles. Two helicopters have landed, he said. Bodies are covered in blue tarps and marked so emergency vehicles don’t run over them, he said……