The driver in the Nice lorry attack was a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man, reports claim.

Sources were cited as saying the suspect was known to police in connection with common law crimes but not to French intelligence services.

In a press conference at the scene, French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said identification of the criminal was in progress, refusing to confirm reports that an ID card was found.

Scores of people including several children died after the truck drove through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the city in the south of France.

Eyewitnesses said the driver swerved from side to side as he drove for hundreds of metres along the famous Promenade des Anglais on the seafront, before he was shot dead by police.