Culture

A Gunman Stormed An Istanbul Nightclub During New Year’s Eve Celebrations, Killing Dozens Of People

In Turkey, New Year’s Eve celebrations became the scene of violence with an armed attack in the Istanbul Reina nightclub. This CNN video reports initial details, including how this area of Istanbul (the Ortakoy district) was already the scene of a significant police presence before the attack occurred.

The Guardian reports at least 35 fatalities. Authorities have also confirmed that 40 other people were injured in the attack, which occurred shortly after midnight.

The New York Times notes that as many as three gunmen first fired on police before entering the Reina nightclub, which held about 600 revelers. Gov. Vasip Sahin of Istanbul Province has labeled this as a terrorist attack:

“One person first kills the police officer outside, and then a civilian. Inside he rained bullets brutally, mercilessly over innocent people who were there just to celebrate the new year and have fun.”

Ongoing violence and terror attacks in Turkey were punctuated earlier this month by the murder of a Russian ambassador by an off-duty Turkish cop. Later on the same day, police arrested a screaming gunman outside the U.S. embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

This attack follows other high-profile, global incidents of violence that source to terrorism, including a truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin. Authorities in Australia also foiled a large-scale attack in Melbourne that was planned for Christmas Day.

UPDATE 8:45pm EST: Adding another layer of horror to this, the gunmen involved in the attack apparently entered the club dressed in Santa suits.

https://twitter.com/CNNTURK_ENG/status/815336905776726016

UPDATE 8:00am EST (Sunday): CNN updates the death toll to 39 with 69 people injured, 4 of them critically. No group has claimed responsibility, but Turkish authorities have no doubt that this was an act of terrorism.

(Via CNN, The Guardian & New York Times)