(reuters_tickers)
By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall
ISTANBUL (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.
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(Additional reporting by Yesim Dikmen in Istanbul, Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Mary Milliken and Mike Collett-White)
Categories: Europe, Europe and Australia, Media, The Muslim Times, Turkey