Armed attack on night club kills 35, injures 40: Istanbul governor

At least 35 people are dead and 40 others are wounded in an armed attack on a night club in Turkey’s Istanbul, the governor of the city says.

According to reports, the gunman, wearing a Santa Claus costume, killed a police officer and a civilian before he entered the club and opened fire at the people who were celebrating the New Year in Reina night club in the early hours of Sunday.

“A terrorist with a long-range weapon … brutally and savagely carried out this incident by firing bullets on innocent people who were there solely to celebrate the New Year and have fun,” Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin told reporters at the scene.

Some 500 to 600 people were thought to have been present at the club when the attack happened. Some of people jumped into the nearby Bosphorus strait to avoid being shot and were later rescued by the police.
Turkey has seen attacks on a host of targets over the past year and a half. Most of the bombing attacks have been blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other Kurdish groups.