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Nice attack: Delays on ferries at Dover due to extra security checks

People travelling to France today are facing delays as security is stepped up following the deadly attack on Nice.

At least 84 people have been killed - including many children - in what is being treated as a terrorist attack.

A lorry drove into crowds watching a fireworks display along a packed promenade during Bastille Day celebrations last night.

More than 80 people were killed in the attack in Nice
More than 80 people were killed in the attack in Nice

The driver behind the attack - who is believed to have been a 31-year-old French-Tunisian - has been shot dead by police.

Today, there are delays on ferries travelling from Dover due to heightened security checks.

P&O is warning passengers to leave extra time for journeys, and appealing for people in France to let relatives know they are safe.

There are fears of delays at Dover Docks due to Brexit
There are fears of delays at Dover Docks due to Brexit

A professional magician who lives in Kent and spends a lot of his time in Nice has condemned the brutal mass killing.

Etienne Pradier, of Rural Terrace in Wye, has lived in this country for more than 30 years, but said that Nice is where a lot of his family and friends live.

He said this morning: "I am totally in shock, it is terrible, I have a lot of friends there and the first thing I did was phone them.

"The mother and the son of one of my friends was just minutes away from the lorry - it is just atrocity after atrocity.

Etienne Pradier with son Clement Pradier, 15, in France after the November 13 terror attack in Paris last year.
Etienne Pradier with son Clement Pradier, 15, in France after the November 13 terror attack in Paris last year.

"It is just a horrible thing to do, there are no words to describe what they do to these people."

Kent politicians have also condemned the atrocity, with Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti tweeting: "Shocked and saddened by the appalling events in Nice, and the terrible loss of life. Thoughts and prayers with people of France."

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also tweeted: "As the French rejoice in their liberty, human evil kills the innocent cruelly. Let us weep with them, let us stand with them #PrayForNice"

President Hollande has promised to put ten-thousand soldiers on the streets of France to bolster security.

He has declared a state of emergency - which was due to end in eleven days - will be extended for another three months.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the killings.

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