France's Hollande leads national tribute to Nice truck attack victims

French President Francois Hollande on Saturday presided at a national ceremony paying homage to the 86 victims in the July 14 truck attack in the coastal city Nice, calling for unity to combat terrorism.

The ceremony took place in Nice in the presence of the victims' families, injured people, the country's main political leaders and Nice local officials.

The names of the 86 victims were read out and one white rose was placed for each of them during the ceremony.

"What has been struck on July 14 is national unity, unleash violence to unborn division, spark fear to fuel stigma. No, this evil business will fail," Hollande said. "Unity, freedom and humanity will ultimately prevail," he added.

Meanwhile, the French president warned that the "war (against terrorism) will be long" and "the threat remains high, more than ever."

Cindy Pellegrini, a young French woman who lost six members of her family in the carnage, opened the ceremony of remembrance with a stirring speech.

"On this July 14, you just want to admire the sky and not join it... That night you were all equal, Christians, Jews, Muslims of all nationalities in face of this crazy truck that carried you into a world perhaps better than ours," Pellegrini said.

On July 14, 2016, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian-born delivery man with his truck careered around two km through the crowd before being shot dead by police units. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Endit