Two more arrested in connection with attack in Nice

French police on Sunday arrested a man and a woman with ties to the attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel who ploughed a truck into a crowd in Nice on Thursday, killing 84 people and injuring dozens.

People react near flowers placed on the road in tribute to victims of the attack in Nice. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Five other people are already in custody, including the estranged wife of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel.

Meanwhile, a source close to the investigation said that the 31-year-old Tunisian had visited the promenade in Nice with his rented truck on the two days before the attack.

The source said police had questioned hundreds of people since the Bastille Day attack, several of whom said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel did show signs of being religious.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Saturday the attacker became radicalised “very quickly”, and some of his family and friends had previously said he smoked, drank and never went to the mosque.

The Islamic State armed group had claimed responsibility for the massacre saying one of its “soldiers” carried out the attack “in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (the IS armed group)”.

Cazeneuve calls on patriotics citizens to become reservists

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has called on “all patriotic citizens who wish to do so” to become reservists to boost security after the latest terror attack.
France's “operational reservists” include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers.

Earlier, French President Francois Hollande said he would call on them to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes.

26 injured still in critical condition

Five children and 21 adults were still fighting for their lives in hospital after the truck attack in Nice, the French health ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said a total of 121 injured people remained in hospital while another 182 people had sought care in hospitals around the city and in nearby towns.

- with AFP