Nice attack killer: First photo of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel emerges

The picture appears to show a government ID card

A French government handout of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhel (French Government)

The first picture of the man behind the Nice attack, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, has been published.

The image – taken from French TV reports that said the picture had come from the French government – appears to show the face of the man who was behind the attack that left at least 84 people dead and many more injured.

Local reports have named the man as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who is 31 years old and was described as French-Tunisian. Local reports have described him as a quiet and angry person, who never appeared to be especially religious.

The documents appear to be those that were found alongside other papers in the lorry that Lahouaiej Bouhlel used to carry out the attack. The vehicle had been hired from a location outside of Nice, and it may have been picked up on Wednesday, reports said.

Eyewitnesses described how the attacker appeared to be frenzied during the attack, and seemed to be enjoying it. He drove the lorry in a zig-zag motion down Nice's promenade, they said, so that he could cause as much death as possible.