France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls has clashed with the country's Interior Minister over the wider blame for the terrorist attack in Nice.
At least 84 people were killed, including 10 children, when Mohamed Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne truck along the city's famous Promenade Des Anglais on Thursday night.
Of the 202 people injured, 52 are in a critical condition and 25 of those are on life support.
No group has yet claimed responsibility but Mr Valls told France 2 television's evening news: "(Bouhlel) is a terrorist probably linked to radical Islam one way or another.
"Yes, it is a terrorist act and we shall see what the links there are with terrorist organisations".
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, however, was more guarded, saying that Bouhlel's motives were not yet known.
He was asked on TF1 television if he was in a position to draw a link between radical Islam and the attack but his answer was "no".
He added: "We have an individual who was not known to intelligence services for activities linked to radical Islam."
France's chief prosecutor Francois Molins said earlier on Friday that Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France, had a record for petty crime and had been sentenced to six months in jail in March for a road rage incident a few months before.
But, as the conviction was his first, the sentence was suspended.
The delivery driver and father of three "was totally unknown by the intelligence services and he had never been subject to any sign of radicalisation", Mr Molins said.
Bouhlel had driven more than a mile in the rented truck, zig-zagging across the road to mow down as many people as possible, witnesses said.
At 10.30pm, the road along the city's waterfront was particularly busy with revellers who had been watching a Bastille Day fireworks display only a few minutes earlier.
Many terrified people fled into the sea to escape the attack, with witnesses telling how people were "flying like bowling pins" as Bouhlel went on the rampage.
The attacker then emerged from the vehicle and was confronted by onlookers, some of whom still thought it was an accident.
One, Egyptian Nader El Shafei, told BBC Radio 4: "The guy was very nervous and I tried to talk to him.
"I was just in front of the window of the truck and trying to wave to him to stop and tell him there is a lot of people under his truck.
"So in that time all of us thought it was just an accident and he had lost control. Suddenly I saw him taking out his gun."
Mr Molins told reporters on Friday afternoon that Bouhlel had shot three police officers before he was killed and his body fell onto the passenger seat.
Mobile phone footage shows police surrounding the lorry, firing their weapons at the driver. A pistol and several fake weapons were later found inside, authorities said.
Bouhlel's ex-wife was also arrested during police raids carried out at two addresses on Friday.
French President Francois Hollande described the attack as a "monstrous terrorist act", declaring three days of national mourning.
Various other world leaders also condemned the attacks, as did representatives of many Muslim groups.
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