- Title: Hunt still on for Istanbul nightclub attacker - Turkish Interior Minister
- Date: 1st January 2017
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JANUARY 1, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES AT SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER, SULEYMAN SOYLU, SAYING: "39 people are killed. 21 of them were identified. Work continues to identify 18 of them. 15-16 of them are foreigners." VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES AT SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER, SULEYMAN SOYLU, SAYING: "69 people are under treatment in hospitals. Four of them are said to be in critical condition. One of them is in very critical condition." VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES AT SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER, SULEYMAN SOYLU, SAYING: "A manhunt for the terrorist is underway. Police launched operations. We hope the attacker will be captured soon." VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES AT SITE
- Embargoed: 16th January 2017 06:19
- Keywords: Turkey attack gunfire wounded casualties nightclub gun attack Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0015X8Z2O7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Police in Istanbul launched a manhunt for a gunman who killed at least 39 people, many of them foreigners, at a nightclub packed with New Year's revellers on Sunday (January 1), in an attack officials described as a terrorist act.
The gunman shot his way into the Reina nightclub at around 1:15 a.m. (2230 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.
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.
The attack again shook Turkey as it tries to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings last year in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on Islamic State and others claimed by Kurdish militants.
The club, one of Istanbul's most iconic, popular with locals and foreigners alike, overlooks the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia in the city's cosmopolitan Ortakoy district. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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