France extends state of emergency after Nice lorry attack

French president Francois Hollande has extended the country’s state of emergency for another three months following last night’s lorry attack in Nice.

The current state of emergency was to run until July 23, but will now continue until at least October 23.

Authorities say 84 peole died after a lorry was driven into a crowd who had been watching the fireworks as part of Bastille Day celebrations in the city’s famous Promenade des Anglais.

It is reported a further 50 are critical, described as ‘fighting for their lives’ and hundreds are injured. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has confirmed at least one British national was among those injured.

Authorities in the US have confirmed a 52-year-old father and his 11-year-old son, from Austin, Texas, are among the dead.

The lorry driver, who allegedly then opened fire on the crowd, was shot dead by police. He is reported to be a 31-year-old French-Tunisian who was known to the authorities, although he was not on a terrorism watch list.

Hollande said: "France is filled with tragedy." He has promised more troops and tighter border controls.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office told British visitors who are in the area to follow the instructions of the French authorities.

Stock markets across Europe fell this morning following the attack.

Travel stocks on the FTSE 100 endured the bulk of the losses, with IAG – the owner of British Airways, easyJet and Flybe all losing around 3% of their market value in the first few minutes of trading.

TUI was 1.2% lower, Thomas Cook was down 1.3%.