A gunman opened fire on New Year revellers at a packed nightclub on the shores of Istanbul's Bosphorus waterway on Sunday Jan 01,2017 killing at least 39 people, including many foreigners, then fled the scene.
Some people jumped into the Bosphorus waters to save themselves after the attacker opened fire at random in the Reina nightclub just over an hour into the New Year.
Officials spoke of a single attacker but some reports, including on social media, suggested there may have been more
The Reina club is one of Istanbul's best known nightspots, popular with locals and foreigners alike. It overlooks the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia in the city's cosmopolitan Ortakoy district.
As many as 600 people were thought to have been inside when the gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at the door, forced his way in and then opened fire.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the attacker used a "long-range weapon" to "brutally and savagely" fire on people, apparently referring to some form of assault rifle.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 15 or 16 of those killed were foreigners but only 21 of the bodies had so far been identified. He said 69 people were in hospital, four of them in critical condition.
"A manhunt for the terrorist is underway. Police have launched operations. We hope the attacker will be captured soon," he told
Turkey has seen repeated attacks in recent weeks.
On Dec. 10, two bombs claimed by Kurdish militants exploded outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul, killing 44 people, most of them police officers, and wounding more than 150.
A car bomb killed at least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying off-duty military personnel in the central city of Kayseri a week later, an attack Erdogan also blamed on Kurdish militants.
The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot dead as he gave a speech in Ankara on December 19 by an off-duty police officer who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and "Allahu Akbar".
In June, around 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded as three suspected Islamic State militants carried out a gun and bomb attack on Istanbul's main Ataturk airport
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