Thousands mark a minute’s silence in Nice

THOUSANDS of people lined the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on July 18 as they maintained a minute’s silence in memory of those who died and were injured by Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as he drove heartlessly through crowds on Bastille Day July 14.

It seems that whilst there was relatively little criticism of the French government following the atrocities in Paris last year, many are now blaming the Hollande administration for not being better prepared as former President Nicolas Sarkozy accused the government of failing to provide security and there was even some booing of Prime Minister Manuel Valls in Nice.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the investigation had not yet found evidence linking the attacker to terrorist networks despite the fact that Daesh have claimed responsibility although this may be an opportunistic statement as the authorities say that the attacker had only recently become radicalised which is why he may have been missed.

Six people, including his estranged wife and an Albanian couple, have been arrested and questioned about Lahouaiej Bouhlel but so far it appears that no charges have been laid against anyone.