Bus carrying kids and women to a mother’s day event tips over killing at least 23 people in Turkey

Turkish authorities say at least 23 people have died and 11 others are in critical condition after a tour bus tipped over, fell 50 feet down a cliff and then hit a car on a serpentine mountain road. Deputy governor of Mugla province, Kamil Koten, told Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency that the driver is among the dead and most of those killed were women.
The governor said the bus flipped over at a road bend as it was traveling from the coastal province of Izmir to Marmaris, a popular tourist destination.

He also confirmed that the passengers were all Turkish and the cause of the accident is unclear, pending investigation. The bus was in a convoy of six, carrying mostly women and children for a Mother's Day event.

Turkey Attack: American survivor Jake Raak played dead after getting shot by the gunman

An American man, Jake Raak was one of the guests at the Reina nightclub early on New Year's Day where 39 people were killed and around 60 others were injured. Raak who was shot during the Istanbul nightclub rampage said that he survived the ordeal by playing dead, remaining silent and motionless even after the gunman shot him.
The 35-year-old from Greenville, Delaware, said that as the gunman moved through the club spraying bullets, he targeted people who were lying on the floor.

"When he shot me I didn't move, I just let him shoot me," he said. "I was shot when I was already on the ground. He was shooting people that he had already shot."  "You just have to stay as calm as you can," he said. "I took a bullet."
Raak was shot in the hip and the bullet traveled to his knee. He added that he didn't move or make a sound because he didn't want the gunman to know he was still alive.

The gunman fired about 120 rounds during his rampage in and around the nightclub at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and lasted less than 10 minutes.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting on Monday, identifying the attacker as "a heroic soldier of the caliphate." It said the attack had been carried out "and in response to a call" from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, although it did not say whether it directed or merely inspired the perpetrator. 

Source: NBC News

At least 35 people were killed in Istanbul nightclub attack

An official statement just released today on the Istanbul nightclub attack records at least 35 people were killed and 40 wounded when an attacker opened fire on New Year's revelers at a nightclub in Istanbul on Sunday, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin told reporters. 

The attacker shot a police officer and a civilian as he entered the club in the Ortakoy district of Istanbul before opening fire inside the building, Sahin said, in what he described as a terrorist attack.