(JTA) — A 19-year-old Israeli woman was among at least 39 people killed in an apparent terrorist attack on an Istanbul nightclub.
Lian Zaher Nasser, 19, from the Arab city of Tira, was killed in the attack, which occurred at around 1 a.m. Saturday at the Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood, Army Radio reported. Nasser at first had been reported missing. Another woman from Tira, 18, was moderately wounded. Two more Israelis from Tira survived the incident unharmed.
A total of 15 of foreigners were among those killed in the attack, according to the Hurriyet Daily News. Dozens of people were wounded.
Some revelers jumped into the water to escape the gunfire and were rescued by police, NTV said. The gunman shot and killed a police officer at the entrance to the club, proceeding to fire indiscriminately on people inside using an AK-47 assault rifle, Istanbul police said.
The whereabouts of the shooter is not widely known and Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council announced a gag order regarding the attack. A manhunt is underway, according to some Turkush media.
Attacks by terrorist organizations “are not independent of incidents happening in our region,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, vowing to do whatever was needed in the region to protect Turkish citizens.
Turkey has been struck several times by militias fighting in Syria, including Kurdish nationalists and Islamic State radicals.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin offered his condolences to Turkey and Nasser’s family.
