ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Shot in the arm and slumped behind a table, Francois al-Asmar played dead as the gunman walked through the exclusive Istanbul nightclub shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground.

Like most of the 39 people killed at a New Year’s party in Reina, a hang-out for the Turkish jet set and moneyed foreigners, the Lebanese radio and TV graduate was a visitor to Istanbul, enjoying a city reputed in the Middle East for its diversity and tolerance.

“He shot one shot, so we thought – I thought – it was some angry or drunk man … But a few seconds later, we heard a machine gun,” Asmar told Reuters from his hospital bed.

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