Survivor 'acted dead' during New Year's Day Istanbul nightclub attack

Francois al-Asmar, a Lebanese national who was at the Reina nightclub at the time, gives an account of how he survived the New Year's Day attack on Sunday.

39 people were killed and 69 wounded. Daesh has claimed responsibility for the incident, while Turkish police have launched a major manhunt for the lone gunman.

"I was in the party and I was drinking and ... in a precise moment, somebody came and shot everyone in the club," he said.

"He fired one shot on its own, so we thought — I thought — it was some angry or drunk man who shot from his gun."

"But a few seconds later, we heard a machine gun. We were already lying on the floor from the first shot."

Al-Asmar said the gunman was directly shooting people who were on the floor.

"I was hiding behind the table, sitting on the floor, but my shoulder must have maybe been exposed," he said.

"He was shooting us on the floor, he wasn't shooting in the air but towards the floor where we were laying. If I was sleeping with my whole body on the floor, I would have been shot all along my body. I was actually sitting."

The Lebanese man then described how he was shot by the gunman.

"I was directly shot, it wasn't a long time. When I was shot, I had to lay my body," he said.

The Lebanese national said he is grateful to be alive.

"Thank God we are safe now and we are good," he said.