Reina club massacre: when laughter turned to tears
- 7 years ago
Revellers at the Reina club, one of Istanbul’s best known nightspots, had no idea of the horror that was to follow as they counted down to 2017.
A video capturing the fun and festivities as the clock struck midnight was posted online by Ukrainian Natasha Volnova, who survived the attack, but says one of her colleagues was killed.
At the same venue, just over a hour later, the New Year nightmare began.
Surveillance camera footage has emerged showing a black-clad gunman entering the club.
CCTV footage from inside shows an attacker all dressed in white.
The internationally-known Reina club overlooks the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia in
Istanbul’s cosmopolitan Ortakoy district.
#Reina nightclub: The party hotspot of the young secular elite & one of the most prestigious nightspots in #Istanbul https://t.co/zdEfOc9NBz pic.twitter.com/r3wZtpz3dn— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) 1. Januar 2017
The gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at the door before forcing his way in and opening fire at the start of an attack that bears echoes of the massacre by militant Islamists at Paris’s Bataclan music hall in November 2015.
Along with assaults on bars and restaurants, that killing spree in France left 130 people dead.
First details are emerging about some of those killed in Turkey’s New Year tragedy – including a 19 year old Israeli woman, named as Leanne Nasser. A young Belgian is also said to be among the dead.
Turkish media says a security guard lost his life, having survived deadly bomb blasts outside a football stadium in Istanbul three weeks earlier.
Security guard Fatih Çakmak, who survived Dec. 10 twin bombings in Beşiktaş, dies in Istanbul nightclub attackhttps://t.co/fzdrfCJ3dk pic.twitter.com/m01Rs5td3P— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) 1 janvier 2017
The nationalities of other victims are also emerging, including Saudi Arabian, Moroccan, Lebanese and Libyan nationals.
Victims of the terror attack on #Reina nightclub include Israeli, Saudi, Moroccan, Lebanese and Libyan citizenshttps://t.co/zk18Jpmncy— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) 1 janvier 2017
A video capturing the fun and festivities as the clock struck midnight was posted online by Ukrainian Natasha Volnova, who survived the attack, but says one of her colleagues was killed.
At the same venue, just over a hour later, the New Year nightmare began.
Surveillance camera footage has emerged showing a black-clad gunman entering the club.
CCTV footage from inside shows an attacker all dressed in white.
The internationally-known Reina club overlooks the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia in
Istanbul’s cosmopolitan Ortakoy district.
#Reina nightclub: The party hotspot of the young secular elite & one of the most prestigious nightspots in #Istanbul https://t.co/zdEfOc9NBz pic.twitter.com/r3wZtpz3dn— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) 1. Januar 2017
The gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at the door before forcing his way in and opening fire at the start of an attack that bears echoes of the massacre by militant Islamists at Paris’s Bataclan music hall in November 2015.
Along with assaults on bars and restaurants, that killing spree in France left 130 people dead.
First details are emerging about some of those killed in Turkey’s New Year tragedy – including a 19 year old Israeli woman, named as Leanne Nasser. A young Belgian is also said to be among the dead.
Turkish media says a security guard lost his life, having survived deadly bomb blasts outside a football stadium in Istanbul three weeks earlier.
Security guard Fatih Çakmak, who survived Dec. 10 twin bombings in Beşiktaş, dies in Istanbul nightclub attackhttps://t.co/fzdrfCJ3dk pic.twitter.com/m01Rs5td3P— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) 1 janvier 2017
The nationalities of other victims are also emerging, including Saudi Arabian, Moroccan, Lebanese and Libyan nationals.
Victims of the terror attack on #Reina nightclub include Israeli, Saudi, Moroccan, Lebanese and Libyan citizenshttps://t.co/zk18Jpmncy— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) 1 janvier 2017