Top French border police officer Emmanuel Grout among those killed in Nice attack

A senior French policeman is believed to be among those killed in the Nice terror attack.

Emmanuel Grout was said to be watching the fireworks display with his family when he died in the atrocity.

It is unclear whether the officer, the Assistant Commissioner of the border police in Nice, was trying to intervene.

Hours after the attack, Christian Estrosi, a former Mayor of Nice, and the current President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur paid tribute to Mr Grout.

He told how the country had lost “a great personality” within the national police force.

A police source had earlier confirmed a senior border police officer had been killed. The information was confirmed by the spokesman of the Ministry of the Interior, Pierre-Henry Brandet.

The truck driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej was driven into the crowds, who had just finished watching the fireworks display on the Promenade des Anglais.

Mr Grout is among the 84 victims so far confirmed dead.

A barman was just 10ft from the bloody carnage in Nice as he watched a truck driver plough through men, women and children.

Robert Greene, from Coolock in Dublin, saw one man’s body torn in pieces on the Promenade des Anglais as a woman cried over him, while the shattered remnants of a child’s bike were strewn across the road.

The 33-year-old had just got off a bus with a group of friends as the Bastille Day celebrations and firework display drew to a close.

Mr Greene said of the truck driver’s progress: “He came behind us and beside us as he was cutting through people.

“He was as close as 10ft away.

“I saw this truck and he cut through three or four people, he was already missing the bumper. It was horrific.”