Turkish police still searching for attacker after at least 39 shot dead in assault on New Year’s Eve party in district of Ortakoy

Istanbul is on high alert after a gunman opened fire on partygoers at a New Year’s Eve celebration in one of the most popular nightclubs in Istanbul, killing 39 people and wounding 69.

Istanbul nightclub attack: at least 35 killed in New Year's Eve mass shooting – live updates Read more

Turkey’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said the attacker was still on the loose. Earlier government reports had said the attack was carried out by a lone gunman who was killed by police. Witness accounts in Turkish media appeared to describe more than one attacker.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack at the Reina club, in the Ortakoy district of the city, but Turkish authorities called it an “act of terror”.

Istanbul’s governor, Vasip Sahin, said: “At 1.15am, a terrorist carrying a long-barrelled weapon martyred the police officer waiting outside, and then martyred another citizen to enter. He then carried out this violent and cruel act by spraying bullets on innocent people who were celebrating the new year.”

Twenty-five of the dead were men and 14 were women. Selina Doğan, an MP with the CHP party who toured the hospitals and the morgue, said they included 11 Turks and 24 foreigners from Iraq, Kuwait, India, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and Israel, a Belgian citizen who is originally Turkish, and a Canadian-Iraqi.

On Sunday morning the scene was cordoned off and police officers with riot shields blocked the road leading to the club, which is situated next to a bridge across the Bosphorus. Ambulances shuttled the wounded to nearby hospitals.



A man waiting for word of his brother who worked at the club said: “We hope he is fine. My sister called me with the news that there was an attack and we put on our clothes and rushed here. It was really hard because no taxis wanted to go here.”

Local media described scenes of chaos at the time of the attack, including people jumping into the Bosphorus to evade the gunfire. The private NTV news channel said the assailant had entered the club dressed in a Father Christmas outfit.

Outside Sisli Etfal hospital, Sinem Uyanik said she had been at the club with her husband, who was wounded in the attack. “Before I could understand what was happening, my husband fell on top me,” she said. “I had to lift several bodies from on top of me before I could get out. It was frightening.” She said her husband’s condition was not serious.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Paramedics carry an injured woman from the site of a mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub. Photograph: Ihlas News Agency/AFP/Getty Images

Turkey has endured numerous terror attacks over the past year by Islamic State militants and Kurdish separatist groups. Three weeks ago a twin bombing outside the football stadium in the district of Besiktas killed 46 people, most of them police officers, two hours after a football match.



On Sunday large number of police officers were deployed throughout Istanbul, particularly the districts surrounding Ortakoy. Istiklal Avenue, a street that is popular with tourists, had a large police presence, with police cars and officers keeping watch.



The White House condemned the “savagery” of the attack. The National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said: “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific terrorist attack at a nightclub in Istanbul, which has left dozens dead and many more wounded. That such an atrocity could be perpetrated upon innocent revellers, many of whom were celebrating New Year’s Eve, underscores the savagery of the attackers.”