On 15 July, François Molins, the prosecutor for the Public Ministry, which is overseeing the investigation, said the attack bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism.

[34][40][42] Travelling at close to 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) and mounting the pavement as if out of control, it hit and killed numerous bystanders before passing the Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen, where it was first reported by municipal police.

[46] Having broken through the barrier, the truck, moving in a zigzag fashion, knocked down random members of the crowd milling about on the pavement and in the three traffic lanes on the seaward side of the Promenade.

[47] After reaching the Hotel Negresco, the speed of the truck, already travelling more slowly, was further slowed down by a passing cyclist, whose attempts to open the cabin door were abandoned after being threatened with a gun through the window.

[43][54] The truck travelled a further 200 metres (660 ft) until, in a badly damaged state, it came to halt[55] at 22:35 next to the Palais de la Méditerranée approximately five minutes after the start of the attack.

[40][55][56] The entire attack took place over a distance of 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi), between numbers 11 and 147 of the Promenade des Anglais, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and creating high levels of panic in the crowds.

[65] After this separation, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had a wild sex life according to the prosecutor,[66] and had engaged in sexual relations with both men and women, according to an unnamed source.

[69] François Molins, the prosecutor leading the inquiry into the possible involvement of organised Islamist terrorism, announced on 18 July that information gathered since the attack suggested that, except for a short period leading up to the attack, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was "a young man completely uninvolved in religious issues and not a practising Muslim, who ate pork, drank alcohol, took drugs and had an unbridled sex life.

Days before the attack, in a surprising move, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel persuaded some friends to smuggle bundles of cash worth 100,000 euros illegally to his family.

[72] Newspapers reported, on the authority of investigators, that evidence found on Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's cellphone showed he may have been in contact[71][73] with individuals in his neighborhood who were known to the French intelligence agencies as Islamic radicals.

[75][80] An eyewitness interviewed by the newspaper Nice-Matin recounted hearing, from his balcony, "Allahu Akbar" being shouted three times during the attack;[82][83] similar claims were circulated on social media and in the press.

[87] On 12 and 13 July 2016, Bouhlel returned several times to the Promenade des Anglais, the site of the attack, surveying the area in the rented truck.

[97][98] By 19 July, French authorities had formally identified the initial 84 victims, with detailed lists published by Agence France-Presse.

Two days later, the Hôtel de Ville in Nice was draped with two long black banners recording the names of those victims.

[77] By 21 July, three men with Tunisian origins and an Albanian couple, all previously unknown to the French intelligence agencies, had been charged by the ministère public with "criminal conspiracy in relation to a terrorist enterprise".

[7][167] On 16 July French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "I remind you that Daesh's ideologue, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has for several weeks repeated calls to attack directly, even individually, Frenchmen, in particular, or Americans, wherever they are, by any means necessary ...

"[169] Cazeneuve on 16 or 17 July announced plans to increase security in response to the attack by calling 12,000 police reservists to add to the 120,000 person force.

In Nice, as the Prime Minister arrived to observe the silence, the crowd booed him and some shouted for his resignation, with some calling him a murderer.

[173] The booing was described by BBC as "unprecedented", who commented that it was "a stark warning of how the mood in the country has changed" in comparison to public responses after other recent major terrorist attacks in France.

The request has been refused by local authorities who have argued that the CCTV footage might provide evidence that the National Police had placed inadequate security measures on the Promenade des Anglais on 14 July.

[50] On 14 July 2017, president Macron said during a remembrance ceremony in Nice "This rage, I know, many of you still carry it in the pit of your stomach, ... Everything will be done in order for the republic, the state and public authorities to regain your trust.”[177] François Molins, prosecutor of the ministère public (le parquet) in Paris[25] – the authority ('public ministry') responsible for defending French society with regard to terrorism – stated on 15 July that the Nice attack bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism.

It cited an "insider source" which said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel "executed the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations, which fight the Islamic State".

[186][187] Later that same day, ISIL's official al-Bayan radio station said the attacker executed a "new, special operation using a truck" and "the crusader countries know that no matter how much they enforce their security measures and procedures, it will not stop the mujahideen from striking.

"[188][189] The first Islamic funeral ceremony of victims of the attack took place on 19 July in the Ar-Rahma (The Mercifulness) mosque, the oldest in Nice and the largest in Alpes-Maritimes.

Rector and imam Otmane Aïssaoui said in his sermon, "The sole frontier for which one should halt is this: the respect for a man, for a woman, irrespective of their colour of skin, their origin.

"[190] On 21 July, a commemoration was held for "people of all religions and even beyond that" in Catholic church Saint-Pierre d'Arène, located near the area where the attack had taken place.

[194] Rihanna cancelled a concert scheduled as a part of her Anti World Tour for 15 July at Nice's Allianz Riviera.

[195] At London's Royal Albert Hall on 15 July, the opening night of the 2016 Proms Festival paid tribute to the people of Nice, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing a rendition of "La Marseillaise".

[200] Cancellations and last-minute changes to European holidays rose in the summer, with travellers increasingly concerned about the threat of terrorism.

Other terrorist attacks in Belgium and Turkey prompted holidaymakers to cancel their bookings or seek out other destinations perceived to be safe.