Istanbul attack: Isis claims responsibility after gunman murders 39 people in New Year massacre

Istanbul: A CCTV image shows the attacker, armed with a long-barrelled weapon, shooting his way into the Reina nightclub
CCTV/Haberturk Newspaper via AP
Mark Chandler2 January 2017

A huge manhunt is still underway to find the “Isis” gunman who murdered at least 39 people during a nightclub massacre on New Year’s Eve.

The killer wounded almost 70 more revellers when he stormed the Reina nightclub in Istanbul.

On Monday morning, Isis released a statement claiming responsibility for the atrocity.

Around two-thirds of the victims were believed to be foreigners, including 19-year-old Israeli woman Leanne Nasser who had been in the city on holiday with friends.

Private security worker and mother-of-one Hatice Koc’un was also named as one of the victims by Turkish media.

An estimated 600 people were celebrating New Year inside the club, a haunt of stars including Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek.

Police believe the gunman first shot policeman Burak Yildiz and travel agent Ayhan Arik at the front of the club before shooting people indiscriminately.

Footage from the club showed the man walking calmly into the venue before the rampage.

Tributes: Flowers are placed in front of a police barrier near the entrance of Reina nightclub
Reuters

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned "the terror attack in Istanbul's Ortakoy neighbourhood in the first hours of 2017.

Three Lebanese citizens were also among those killed in the attack, Lebanon's foreign ministry said.

The ministry named those killed as Elias Wardini, Haykal Mousallem and Rita Shami.

Ambulances line up on a road leading up to the nightclub
REUTERS

Nationals of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya, Israel, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen and a Franco-Tunisian woman were among the others who were murdered.

In the chaos after the shooting, the gunman managed to slip away, sparking a major manhunt which was still underway on Monday morning.

Interior minister Suleyman Soylu said: "The search for the terrorist continues... I hope (the assailant) will be captured quickly, God willing.”

“This was a massacre, a truly inhuman savagery," he said.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised UK tourists to remain vigilant.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT