Terror Attack in France-The driver was a 31-year-old man of Tunisian origin and a resident of Nice

Witnesses have described seeing "bodies flying like bowling pins" when a truck packed with weapons ploughed into a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations in the French city of Nice. At least 80 people have been killed according to the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. Many of the 80 are children. At least 18 are in a critical condition. The death toll has been climbing since the attack began about 7.00am AEST. A spokesman for France's Interior Ministry said "it's going to be a very high toll". The driver is among the dead. The incident interrupted a fireworks display for the national celebration when the huge truck rammed into the crowd celebrating on the French Riviera. Mown down bodies remain strewn on the streets and the scene has been described as "apocalyptic" and "carnage on the road". Christian Estrosi, president of the region, says the truck in that caused carnage in the southern city was loaded with grenades, guns and larger weapons. Witnesses have described "running over bodies". A French journalist at the scene said: "I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget." A man who witnessed the attack told CNN he saw the driver accelerate and aim for people as the vehicle slammed the crowd. The truck continued about two kilometres through the city's busy main drag mowing down people in its path. The driver then emerged from the truck and opened fire on the crowd, another eyewitness said. French media is now reporting the gunman got back in the driver's seat and travelled to another populated area before starting to shoot again. Police opened fire on the truck which crushed revellers and sent people running for their lives. The truck's driver was shot dead. French President Francois Hollande said the attack was clearly a "terrorist" act. Unconfirmed reports are circulating suggesting terror outfit Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. The driver was a 31-year-old man of Tunisian origin and a resident of Nice. Details of his identity were obtained from papers found in the shot up truck following the attack. The truck driver was said to have shouted "allahu Akbar" (God the great) before being shot dead by police, local newspaper Nice-Martin reported. French newspapers have previewed their front pages following the overnight attack. Words like "carnage" and "horror" will dominate newsstands, accompanied by grim pictures of the shot up attack truck and lifeless bodies on the city's streets covered by sheets.

A French-Tunisian criminal well known to the police for armed attacks used a hired lorry to kill at least 84 people in a terrorist attack during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, it emerged today. Many children were among the death toll in the Riviera city following a "cowardly and barbaric" atrocity that had all hallmarks of those carried out by Islamic State or Al-Qaeda. As hundreds remained in hospital, including 14 in intensive care, anti-terrorist judges opened an investigation into "mass murder". Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson today confirmed at least one British national was among those injured in the attack. Sources close to the enquiry said the perpetrator was a local 30-year-old career criminal who was born in Tunisia before moving to France. His 19 tonne lorry had zigzagged through crowds massing on the Promenade des Anglais on Thursday night, killing anyone he could. After being stopped by armed police, who fired bullets into the lorry's windscreen, the so far unnamed man exchanged fire with officers using a 7.65pistol, before being shot dead. "He was known to the police for violence, and using weapons, but had no direct links with terrorism," said an investigating source. "His identity card was found in the lorry. He had French and Tunisian nationality." The fact that the killer was known to the authorities will be of grave concern to those trying to prevent attacks in the country. A Paris parliamentary investigation into last year's attacks have identified multiple failings by France's intelligence agencies. As the United Nations issued a statement calling the latest attack "cowardly and barbaric", French Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeted: "The city of Nice has been hit by terrorism on the day of our national holiday. Immense pain, the country is in mourning. The French will face it." President Francois Hollande meanwhile spoke of a "monstrosity", and said soldiers would be deployed to support gendarmes and police, particularly at the country's borders. A State of Emergency imposed last year after almost 150 people were killed during attacks on Paris would be extended beyond July 26th, Mr Hollande added. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve meanwhile said: "We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent." Tony Molina, an American witness to the attack, told CNN: "There was still a crowd of people and then you just see this big white panel truck, I couldn't see the driver, but it just kept going at different angles from left to right at 25 to 30 miles and hour.

"People were screaming and running. I work in homicide and I've never seen anything like this. It's unbelievable." The Promenade Anglais was packed on what is traditionally the biggest public holiday in France when the man struck soon after 10.45am. The white lorry mounted the pavement continually at approximately 40mph and steered directly towards men, women, and children, some of whom were still dressed for the beach. Locals were advised to "stay indoors", as the emergency services dealt with the emergency, with soldiers and antiterrorist police flooding the area. The National Gendarmeris tweeted: "Emergency operation in progress. Keep calm and avoid city centre. Follow official social media accounts for information." British holidaymaker Esther Serwah, 59, was staying in a hotel a short walk from the scene. She said she had been on her way to the Promenade des Anglais for dinner with her daughters when people started screaming at her. Mrs Serwah, from Surrey, said: "I was just walking to the Promenade and then I saw everybody running and I just didn't know what was going on. People were screaming at me in French but I didn't understand. "Some people were lying on the streets dead and people were running over the bodies. Everybody was saying it's a terrorist attack. It's just horrible, horrible, horrible. I'm in shock. I'm still shaking." Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda are well known for driving vehicles into innocent people, prompting fears that tonight's incident could be linked to their activities. Bastille Day, which celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris during the French Revolution of 1789, is the country's biggest public holiday. France's Muslim Faith Council (CFCM) was among those organisations who condemned last night's attack "with great vigour". A CFCM statement read: "France has just been hit again by an attack of extreme gravity, one that was heinous and abject and designed to hurt our country on the day of the national holiday that celebrates values of liberty, equality and fraternity." The parliamentary investigation into last year's attacks which was published this month outlined '"global failures". A commission of MPs focused on the failure to prevent a series of attacks that killed a total of 147 people in 2015 - from January's gun attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket to the coordinated gun and bomb attacks on 13th November outside the national sports stadium, at bars and restaurants, and at the Bataclan concert hall. The report highlights a "global failure" of French intelligence and recommended a total overhaul of the intelligence services and the creation of a single, US-style national counter-terrorism agency.