Heavily armed police are blocking the snowy street in front of Istanbul's Reina nightclub, where a gunman killed at least 39 people and wounded almost 70 hours earlier.

The entrance is covered with blue plastic sheeting below a Turkish flag. Crime scene Investigators were seen inside searching through piles of mingled chairs, tables and pieces of clothing left behind during the panic among the guests. Turkish police boats were patrolling the Asian side of the Bosporus on the other side of the club.

There were some emotional scenes in front of a city morgue where those shot dead were brought for identification. Some relatives cried out and fell to the ground as they apparently learned the fate of their loved ones.