Gunman dresses as Santa and kills 39 in a Turkey Nightclub

Not fewer than 39 persons have been killed, and dozens others wounded during a deadly attack in a popular nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey's interior Minister confirms. The minister added that the police are hunting one terrorist after the attack that hit the nightspot in Ortakoy neighborhood at around 1:15 am on Sunday.

He said that the gunman was believed to have carried out the attack alone. Governor Vasip Sahin said the attacker, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a police man and a civilian outside the Reina nightclub before making his way into the nightclub.

Sixty-nine people were in hospital after the attack, and among the 21 bodies identified so far, 15 of them are foreigners. The Reina lies on the shore of the Bospherous Strait and is one of Istanbul's best-known nightclubs, popular with locals and tourists alike. Some of the lucky survivors jumped into the waters of the Bosterous to save themselves and they were being rescued by the police.

Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was staged to create chaos in Turkey. "
They are working to destroy our country's morale and create chaos by deliberately targeting our national peace and the harmless civilians in such savagery attack."