Istanbul attack: 35 killed as gunmen ‘dressed as Santa’ opens fire at nightclub in Turkey

This is not good news from The Telegraph for the first minutes of 2017. Also from Reuters and Sky News

At least 35 people have been killed in a gun attack at a famous nightclub in Istanbul during New Year’s Eve celebrations. A gunman was reportedly dressed in a Santa costume when he opened fire in the Reina club in the Ortakoy area of the city, witnesses told CNN Turk.

The Istanbul governor said 35 people were killed and 40 wounded in the “terror attack”. The attacker shot a police officer and a civilian as he entered the club in the Ortakoy district of Istanbul before opening fire inside the building, Sahin said, in what he described as a terrorist attack

One attacker may be still inside the club and police special forces and explosives experts were  searching the club, an NTV correspondent at the scene said. The whereabouts of the attacker was unclear. 

Estimates suggest about 500 to 600 people were celebrating the New Year at the venue. Many people jumped into the Bosphorus river in panic.

Security measures had been heightened in major Turkish cities, with police barring traffic leading up to key squares in Istanbul and the capital Ankara.

In Istanbul, 17,000 police officers were put on duty, some camouflaged as Santa Clause and others as street vendors, Anadolu reported.