Nice attack live: At least 84 killed after lorry ploughs through crowd during Bastille Day celebrations- latest news

At least 84 people have been killed, including a number of children, after a lorry ploughed through a large crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the seafront in Nice, France.

More than a dozen were critically injured, according to the latest count from the French interior ministry.

The driver of the truck, identified in French media as a 31-year-old local of Tunisian origin, is understood to have been shot dead by police at the scene.

Many hundreds were told to run from the scene by police, and the president of the local region, Christian Estrosi, urged everyone in the city to remain indoors.

Witnesses said the driver hit the crowd at high speed, swerving to hit as many as possible before climbing out of the car and shooting more dead.

Mr Estrosi said the lorry was loaded with grenades and guns.

Images emerged of the badly damaged truck, its windscreen riddled with bullets. Witnesses say there was an exchange of gunfire between the driver and police.

The attack happened on the Promenade des Anglais at around 10:30pm local time at the end of a firework display in what local officials are treating as serious terror attack.

President Francois Hollande rushed back to Paris in the wake of the attack, and announced three security measures, including the extension of France's state of emergency - due to end on 26 July - for a further three months.

"A horror has come down on France again," he said, adding that "the terrorist character [of the the attack] cannot be denied".

People on social media are using the hashtag #PortesOuvertesNice (Doors Open Nice) to help visitors stranded in the city after local authorities told people to remain inside.

Anti-terror investigators have taken over the scene which has been cordoned off to the public, and an anti-terror probe has now officially been opened.

A spokesman for France's interior ministry said there is going to be "a very high death toll".

Mr Hollande expressed solidarity with the victims of the attack, while sounding a defiant note, saying France would continue its operations in Syria and Iraq.

"After Paris, Nice is now hit," he said. "It is all of France which is under threat of Islamic terrorism.

"It is clear we need to do all we can to fight against terrorism," he said. "France is strong, and France will always be stronger, I assure you."

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