At least 12 Muslim families lost loved ones in attack

The victims of the attack in Nice, a cosmopolitan city of some 340,000 people and the second-biggest tourist centre in France, are now known to have come from all over the world.

At least two Moroccans, a father and son from the US, a Russian, a Ukrainian and an Armenian are known to have been among those killed.

An Egyptian man visiting Nice on holiday said he had tried to stop the truck, thinking initially that its erratic driving was an accident.

El-Shafei, a former banker, told NBC news that he had been "frozen" by panic when he realised what was happening.

"Five minutes before this happened, I thought in this peaceful place somebody crazy could do something."

"I'm used to all of these actions in the Middle East but I was never this close to it. I said to my friends, 'Now we can't go to Europe to escape the Middle East. Now the Middle East can happen anywhere."

The first person reportedly mown down by the truck as the driver embarked on his two-kilometre killing spree was Fatima Charrihi, a local mother of seven.

Her son, Hamza, told l’Express magazine: “She wore the veil, followed a moderate Islam. Real Islam. Not that of the terrorists.”

Hamza, 28, believes his mother was the "first victim" because "there were no other bodies in front of it".

Her husband Ahmed had been some 50 metres in front of her, having gone ahead to unlock the car, when the truck began "smashing things to pieces".

"She was with her nieces and nephews. My brother tried to revive her. But she died on the spot told us doctors," said Hamza.

At least 12 Muslim families are known to have lost loved ones in the attack, according to Boubakr Bekri, head of the regional Council for the Muslim Faith.

Bekri said he had been present at festivities in Nice on 14 July, and went immediately to an emergency refuge centre, where he stayed "with a priest and a rabbi until 04:00".

A single Friday sermon will be delivered at all the mosques in Nice "to denounce this despicable act," Bekri said.

The sermon will be delivered in both Arabic and French, and will be followed by a special prayer to remember those who were killed.