A man who died after driving into a police vehicle on the Champs-Elysees in Paris was on a terror watchlist, according to sources close to the investigation.

Officers have identified the suspect as 31-year-old Adam Dzaziri, who had been been monitored since 2015 for membership of a 'radical Islamist movement'.

Four members of his family have been detained as part of the Paris prosecutor's counter-terrorism investigation into the attack.

Image: Police redirect traffic following the crash on the Champs-Elysees

A stash of weapons was also found at the suspects home, a source involved in the investigation told AFP.

The source said at least nine weapons, including two pistols and a Kalashnikov-type assault rifle, were found at the property.


Gerard Collomb, France's interior minister, told reporters the suspect had intended to attack the security forces and was carrying explosives in his car.

Police sources told Agence France-Presse that a Kalashnikov rifle, handguns and gas bottles were found in the suspect's white Renault Megane.

Image: Armed police patrol the Champs-Elysees

The car is described as having gone up in flames after the attempted ramming.

Reports suggest the attacker was badly burned.

The Champs-Elysees, one of the city's most popular neighbourhoods for tourists, was reopened on Tuesday morning.

Police say the situation is now under control, and a bomb disposal unit was sent to the scene "to ensure the vehicle poses no further danger".

Image: Security forces including a bomb disposal unit attended the scene

Associated Press cited an eyewitness account by a journalist for French newspaper Liberation, Eric Favereau, who was driving a scooter behind a gendarmes convoy.

Mr Favereau said he saw a car blocking the convoy's path and then an implosion in the vehicle.

Image: France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015

The gendarmes broke open the windows and pulled the occupant from inside, while others attempted to extinguish the flames.

Mr Collomb said that the attempted attack shows the threat France is facing is still very high and justifies its ongoing state of emergency, which was first introduced following the November 2015 attacks in Paris.

The interior minister said he would be introducing a bill on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting to extend the state of emergency from 15 July, when it is set to expire, until 1 November.

Mr Collomb said a new security law was "needed" because of the attacks, and that the legislation would "maintain a high security level" beyond the state of emergency.