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NIGHTCLUB

Gunman ‘knew where to find nightclub victims’

Friends and family of Yunus Gormek, one of the victims of the Reina nightclub attack, carry his coffin through Istanbul. Two thirds of those killed were foreigners
Friends and family of Yunus Gormek, one of the victims of the Reina nightclub attack, carry his coffin through Istanbul. Two thirds of those killed were foreigners
DENIZ TOPRAK/EPA

Survivors of Istanbul’s New Year’s Eve nightclub massacre spoke of their ordeal yesterday, one recalling how he played dead to escape the gunman.

Thirty-nine people were killed when a man armed with an assault rifle attacked the Reina nightclub, shooting at revellers indiscriminately.

“He shot one shot, so we thought — I thought — it was some angry or drunk man,” François al-Asmar, a Lebanese man, said. “But a few seconds later, we heard a machine gun.”

He added: “I was hiding behind the table, sitting on the floor, but my shoulder must have been exposed. He was shooting us on the floor ... I acted dead so he didn’t keep shooting me.”

How the attack at the Reina nightclub unfolded

The Anadolu news agency reported that two thirds of the victims were