Updated with this new footage as the shooter opens fire on innocent revelers. We have also been told ISIS’s Amaq News Agency reported that IS takes credit for this attack.
New footage of the Istanbul nightclub attacker as he starts shooting his way into the club. pic.twitter.com/XSBMnaz9GY
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) January 1, 2017
Many of the victims were foreigners: five were Saudi, three from Jordan; two were from Lebanon; two from India; two were Tunisian, and one was Israeli.
At least one gunman shot his way into an Istanbul nightclub packed with hundreds of New Year’s revelers on Sunday, killing 39 people and wounding more than 40 in what the provincial governor described as a terrorist attack.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said at the scene that the attacker first killed a policeman at the door before opening fire inside.
There might have been multiple attackers.
“A terrorist with a long-range weapon … brutally and savagely carried out this attack by firing bullets on innocent people who were there solely to celebrate the New Year and have fun,” Sahin told reporters.
Turkey is still recovering from a failed July coup and deadly bombings in cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, carried out by ISIS or Kurdish militants.
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The club, one of Istanbul’s most iconic, popular with locals and foreigners alike, overlooks the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia in the city’s cosmopolitan Ortakoy district.
Around 500 to 600 people were thought to have been inside when the gunman opened fire at around 1:15 a.m. (2230 GMT), broadcaster CNN Turk said. Some jumped into the waters of the Bosphorus to save themselves and were rescued by police.
U.S. President Barack Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, expressed condolences and offered help, the White House said.
Sahin said there was only one attacker but other reports, including on social media, suggested there may have been at least two, dressed in Santa Claus costumes which they later ditched.
Dozens of ambulances and police vehicles were dispatched quickly.
“I didn’t see who was shooting but heard the gun shots and people fled. Police moved in quickly,” Sefa Boydas, a Turkish soccer player, wrote on Twitter.
“My girlfriend was wearing high heels. I lifted her and carried her out on my back,” he said.
Reina’s owner, Mehmet Kocarslan, said security measures had been taken over the past 10 days after U.S. intelligence reports suggested a possible attack.
Warning: Video of the killer entering the club, killing a policeman.
Turkey, a NATO member and part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, faces multiple security threats, including from Syria.
Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria in August against the radical Islamist group and is also fighting a Kurdish militant insurgency in its own southeast.
Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, has seen several attacks this year, the latest on Dec. 10, when two bombs claimed by Kurdish militants exploded outside a soccer stadium, killing 44 people and wounding more than 150.
“Our thoughts are with victims and their loved ones. We continue to work to prevent these tragedies,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini published in Twitter message.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the attack “a tragic start to 2017.”
He posted on Twitter: “My thoughts are with those affected by the attack on people celebrating New Year and with the Turkish people.”
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook extended his condolences to the Turkish people in another Twitter post, this one penned in Turkish.
“Dear Turkey, we share your pain and sorrow. Istanbul, our heart is with you,” the message read.
İşte ilk götüntüler. 40 civarı yaralı olduğu belirtiliyor. pic.twitter.com/FExbV7e7Qy
— Murat Şahin (@SunucuSpiker) December 31, 2016
Turkey has released a photo of the suspect.
