The man behind the wheel in the Nice truck attack, which killed more than 80 people and injured over 100 others, has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.
Bouhlel, 31, was a Franco-Tunisian and worked as a delivery driver. He came from the Tunisian town of Msaken which he last visited four years ago, and held a dual citizenship.
The police identified the man after finding his identity papers and a phone in the truck, but cautioned that DNA and identity checks with acquaintances were pending to fully verify his identity.
For live updates, read: Live: Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel Named Nice Attacker, says Report
Bouhlel’s neighbours described him as a loner with no visible religious affiliation, as forensic experts searched his flat.
They described him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not even return greetings when their paths crossed in the four-storey block, located in a working-class neighbourhood of Nice.
One of them said that Bouhlel did not seem overtly religious, often dressed in shorts and sometimes wore work boots.
He had a van parked nearby and owned a bike, which he brought up into his first-floor apartment.
Of the neighbours who were interviewed, only one, a neighbour on the ground floor, said she had had any concerns about him – he was “a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye,” she said.
He was known to police authorities, but only as a petty criminal, and didn’t have a serious record. His last appearance in court was as recent as March, when he was found guilty of violent conduct, reported Mirror.
Bouhlel however, was not suspected to have been radicalised and had no record with the anti-terrorism police. The Tunisian authorities too said he wasn’t known to hold radical or Islamist views.
The fact that he wasn’t known to intelligence officials may be of grave concern, as during the investigation of the Paris attacks last year, multiple lapses by the French intelligence were identified.
According to the police, the attack may have been premeditated.
Bouhlel seems to have hired the truck on Wednesday night from a town near Nice, and CCTV cameras have shown the vehicle in the hills near the French city.
Investigators are still trying to track if he worked with an accomplice, and have not been able to identify a motive yet.
No group has claimed the attack so far, though the pro-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) channels have posted pictures of the attack, celebrating it.
Bouhlel was married with three children. It is not known when he had last been resident in Tunisia. His ex-wife has been held for questioning by the police. Relatives too are being questioned.
He was killed after an exchange of bullets with security forces.
(With inputs from PTI, Reuters, The Independent and Mirror.)
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