At least 16 foreigners were among 39 people people killed in the gun attack on an Istanbul club during New Year festivities, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Sunday.
Soylu said in televised comments that of 21 victims who have been identified so far, 16 are foreigners and five are Turks. Another 69 people are being treated in hospital for their wounds.
Indicating that the attacker was still at large, Soylu said: "The search for the terrorist continues... I hope (the assailant) will be captured quickly, God willing."
At least one attacker shot at police officers outside the nightclub early on Sunday before entering and opening fire at random inside the building, where around 500-600 people were celebrating the New Year, broadcaster NTV said.
The attacker was reportedly wearing a Santa Claus costume and carrying a long-range weapon.
is quoting a government official who told their reporter the attacker had been killed and police had started to leave the scene.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin said at least 35 people had been killed, including 21-year-old police officer Burak Yildiz.
"Unfortunately, at least 35 of our citizens lost their lives," he told reporters at the scene of the attack.
"One was a police officer. Forty people are receiving treatment in hospitals."
He described the incident, which began at about 1.15am, as a "terror attack" but did not specify the fate of the attacker or if there had been more than one protagonist.
Many party-goers threw themselves into the Bosphorus in panic after the attack and efforts were underway to rescue them from the waters, NTV television said.
Witnesses describe nightclub chaos
The Hurriyet newspaper cited witnesses as saying there were multiple attackers and that they shouted in Arabic.
"We were having fun. All of a sudden people started to run. My husband said don't be afraid, and he jumped on me. People ran over me. My husband was hit in three places," one club-goer, Sinem Uyanik, told the newspaper.
"I managed to push through and get out, it was terrible," she said, describing seeing people soaked in blood and adding that there appeared to have been at least two gunmen.
Her husband was not in serious condition despite his wounds.
Young people leave from the scene of an attack in Istanbul. (AAP) Source: AAP
"I didn't see who was shooting but heard the gun shots and people fled. Police moved in quickly," Sefa Boydas, a Turkish soccer player, wrote on Twitter.
"My girlfriend was wearing high heels. I lifted her and carried her out on my back," he said.
Facebook has activated its safety check feature to allow people to reassure friends and family they were safe following the attack.
Extra security measures in place
Hurriyet quoted Reina's owner, Mehmet Kocarslan, as saying security measures had been taken over the past 10 days after US intelligence reports suggested a possible attack.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Istanbul for the New Year, had been informed of the attack, local media said.
Turkish television footage shows armoured police vehicles on the street outside the Reina club in the Ortakoy district.
Police special forces and explosives experts were still searching the club in the Ortakoy district of Turkey's most populous city, an NTV correspondent at the scene said. The whereabouts of the attacker were unclear.
Footage from the scene showed at least six ambulances with flashing lights and civilians being escorted out.
An AP photographer says police cordoned off the area about three kilometres away from the nightclub and reported multiple ambulances passing by.
Reina is one of Istanbul's best-known nightclubs, popular with locals and tourists alike.
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 Claus and others as street vendors, state news agency Anadolu reported.
The attack comes less than a month after the twin blasts outside the Istanbul stadium of top Turkish team Besiktas on December 10 killed 44 people claimed by Kurdish militants.
The city suffered multiple terror attacks last year at the hands of Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish rebels.
Amid fears of another attack in Istanbul, at least 17,000 police officers were deployed in the city for New Year's Eve celebrations.
The attack also came as the Turkish army is waging a four-month incursion in Syria to oust IS jihadists and Kurdish militants from the border area, taking increasing casualties.
White House condemns Istanbul attack
The White House condemned the "savagery" of the Istanbul Reina nightclub attack.
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific terrorist attack at a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, which has left dozens dead and many more wounded," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
"That such an atrocity could be perpetrated upon innocent revelers, many of whom were celebrating New Year's Eve, underscores the savagery of the attackers."
Price added: "We reaffirm the support of the United States for Turkey, our NATO ally, in our shared determination to confront and defeat all forms of terrorism.
- with AFP
