#NiceAttack: How it unfolded

A timeline of the attack in Nice, France, that killed at least 84 people and injured 50 on Thursday.

All times local.

10:30 p.m. 

As thousands of people watch a fireworks display to celebrate Bastille Day — a national event that marks a key moment in the French Revolution — a truck driving at full speed intentionally slams into the crowds, zigzagging to kill and injure as many people as possible.

10:45 p.m. 

Disturbing pictures emerge on social media of bodies scattered across a main road. Police ask people to stop posting the images.

11 p.m.

Police eventually manage to bring the truck to a halt, but only after it was driven for more than a mile down the city's beachfront promenade. The truck's driver opens fire on police but is shot dead as he attempts to flee, first into a restaurant and then into the sea. The driver was first stopped when a person “with extraordinary courage” jumped onto the front of the vehicle to try to halt it, French lawmaker Éric Ciotti told Europe 1 radio, according to The New York Times. “It was at that moment that the police were able to stop the terrorist,” he said.  Ciotti also said “many children” were crushed by the truck, and people tried to jump into the sea to escape the carnage, the Times reported.

11:30 p.m.

French President Francois Hollande returns to Paris for crisis talks. It is the third major terrorist attack on France in a year and a half. Hollande subsequently extends, for a three more months, state of emergency security legislation that was due to expire this month.

Midnight

Local media reports say there may be a hostage situation in two nearby hotels. These turn out to be false rumors.

1 a.m. Friday

The driver of the truck is identified by local media as being of French-Tunisian origin. Police find fake guns and a fake grenade inside the truck. The suspect, 31, is a Nice resident. The gun the suspect used to fire on police was not fake. The Nice-Matin newspaper later identifies the attacker as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel. Investigators have not confirmed the name.

3 a.m. 

In a news conference, Hollande describes the incident as a terrorist attack.

6:30 a.m.

France's interior ministry says the death toll has reached 84. Eighteen people are in a critical condition. Children are among the dead and wounded.

9:00 a.m.

British, Belgian and German authorities begin tightening security at borders.

11:00 a.m.

Hollande declares three days of national mourning, July 16-18.

MORE COVERAGE OF THE ATTACK IN NICE

France grapples with new terror as Nice attack kills 84

Condemned and mourned: World reaction to Nice attack

Deadly truck attack in Nice: What we know

Voices: From the Bataclan to Nice, darkness falls over France