France Terror Attack: a police vehicle is parked near the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption basilica in Nice
Nice, France:
The Tunisian attacker who killed three people in a church in France tested positive for Covid-19, which could further delay his questioning, a source close to the investigation said on Tuesday.
Brahim Issaoui, 21, remains hospitalized after being shot several times by the police after the knife rampage at the Notre-Dame basilica in Nice on Thursday.
“He has not yet been questioned, his prognosis remains uncertain,” another investigative source told AFP on Monday evening.
Issaoui, known to the Tunisian police for violence and drug offenses, only arrived in France last month, after first crossing the Mediterranean to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa.
According to Italian media, he was initially placed in quarantine with nearly 400 other migrants on a ferry, before being allowed to disembark in Bari on October 9.
Investigators have since determined that he arrived in Nice on October 27, just two days before the attack on the church.
A woman had her throat slit and a church worker was fatally stabbed inside the church, while another woman managed to flee but later died of her injuries.
Police say Issaoui shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest) when apprehended, leading officials to say it was the latest in a series of jihadist attacks on French soil these last years.
Six people were arrested for questioning over alleged links to Issaoui, but only one remained in detention on Tuesday, a 29-year-old Tunisian who was on board the boat that brought Issaoui to Lampedusa, sources said.
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