Police officers stand guard near the site of a terror attack at a night club in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 1, 2017. Thirty five people were killed and 40 others wounded in a terror attack on a popular night club in Istanbul early Sunday morning, Istanbul's governor said. (Xinhua/He Canling)
ISTANBUL, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The death toll rose to 39 in a shooting attack on a night club in central Istanbul early Sunday morning, the Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told the press.
According to the minister, 20 bodies have been identified, with 15 being foreigners and five Turks. Of the 69 wounded, four are in critical condition.
Earlier Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin described the shooting spree as an act of terrorism, in which a gunman stormed into the popular night club known as Reina in the district of Besiktas, and shot at hundreds of people gathering there for New Year celebration.
A security analyst, who declined to be named, said the gunman, who spoke Arabic, changed his ammunition clips several times in the assault.
The gunman was on the run after slipping out of the night club in chaos. The police were doing their best to catch the attacker.
The roads leading to the scene were closed off, and the authorities have imposed a media blackout on the attack.
Turkey's NTV television said some people trying to escape the shootings jumped into the sea, as the night club is close to the Bosporus Strait, prompting a rescue operation by coast guards.
Sinem Uyanik's husband jumped on her when the shootings occurred and was shot three times. Other people ran over her in panic.
"My husband was full of blood. People were in blood," she was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet daily. "Then we called ambulance and police. Police said 'Don't move or you will be a victim.' We stayed motionless. Then the special operation teams entered inside."
Istanbul and other Turkish cities have come under a spate of deadly attacks over the past year, with the last one also hitting Besiktas on Dec. 10, in which two suicide bombing attacks left 44 dead.
Tight security measures have reportedly been enforced in Ankara and Istanbul for New Year celebrations, including banning entry of trucks, lorries and concrete mixers into some districts.
The U.S. embassy in Ankara, in a message posted on its website on Dec. 23, had advised Americans to stay away from public gatherings for holiday celebrations in Turkey, citing increased security concerns across the country. Enditem
