Shocking in New Year: Dozens dead in Turkish nightclub attack - At least 35 people are dead скачать в хорошем качестве

Shocking in New Year: Dozens dead in Turkish nightclub attack - At least 35 people are dead

Shocking in New Year: Dozens dead in Turkish nightclub attack - At least 35 people are dead At least 35 people are dead after a gunman opened fire in a Turkish nightclub on New Year's Eve ISTANBUL, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Police in Istanbul launched a manhunt on Sunday for a gunman who killed at least 39 people, many of them foreigners, at a nightclub packed with New Year's revellers, in an attack officials described as a terrorist act. The gunman shot his way into the Reina nightclub at around 1:15 a.m. (2215 GMT), just over an hour into the new year, killing a police officer and a civilian as he entered before opening fire at random inside. Some witnesses spoke of multiple attackers, but officials have not confirmed this. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 15 or 16 of those killed were foreigners but that only 21 of the bodies had so far been identified. He said 69 people were in hospital, four of them in a critical condition. "A manhunt for the terrorist is underway. Police have launched operations. We hope the attacker will be captured soon," he told reporters. The attack again shook Turkey as it tries to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on Islamic State and others claimed by Kurdish militants. The club, one of Istanbul's most iconic that is 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, broadcaster CNN Turk said. Some jumped into the waters of the Bosphorus to save themselves and were rescued by police. Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the attacker had used a "long-range weapon" to "brutally and savagely" fire on people, apparently referring to some sort of assault rifle. U.S. President Barack Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, expressed condolences and directed his team to offer help to the Turkish authorities, the White House said. Sahin and Soylu both referred to a single attacker but other reports, including on social media, suggested there may have been more, at least one of them wearing a Santa Claus costume which he later ditched in order to escape. An armoured police vehicle blocks a road leads to a nightclub where a gun attack took place during a New Year party in Istanbul, Turkey, January 1, 2017. Ismail Coskun/Ihlas News Agency via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD Police secure an area near an Istanbul nightclub, following a gun attack, Turkey, January 1, 2017. ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JANUARY 1: Relatives of the victimes gather neat the area at Ortakoy district near night club Reina in Istanbul, January 1, 2017, Turkey. Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin says at least 35 dead and 40 wounded at terror attack at Istanbul's famous night club of Reina in Bosphorus shores in the new year party. A police boat patrols the Bosphourus near a nightclub where a gun attack took place during a New Year party in Istanbul, Turkey, January 1, 2017. Ambulances rushing away from the scene of an attack in Istanbul, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. Private NTV television said more than one assailant may have been involved in the attack. The attacker or attackers are believed to have entered the nightclub in Previous SlideNext Slide 1/8 SLIDES © Ismail Coskun/Ihlas News Agency/Reuters At least 39 people were killed and another 69 wounded when a gunman opened fire at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey on Jan. 1, 2017, according to Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin called it a "terrorist attack" and told reporters the gunman first shot a police officer and a civilian as he entered the club in Ortakoy district. Police have cordoned off the area and ambulances are on the scene but the whereabouts of the attacker is still unknown. (Pictured) An armored police vehicle blocks a road leading to the club. The Hurriyet newspaper cited witnesses as saying there were multiple attackers and that they shouted in Arabic. "We were having fun. All of a sudden people started to run. My husband said don't be afraid, and he jumped on me. People ran over me. My husband was hit in three places," one club-goer, Sinem Uyanik, told the newspaper. "I managed to push through and get out, it was terrible," she said, describing seeing people soaked in blood and adding that there appeared to have been at least two gunmen. "POLICE MOVED IN QUICKLY" Dozens of ambulances and police vehicles were dispatched to the club in Ortakoy, a neighbourhood on the city's European side nestled under one of three bridges crossing the Bosphorus and home to nightclubs, restaurants and art galleries. "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