Police confirm Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to IS who call him 'soldier of the caliphate'

Doctors fear the death toll from the deadliest mass shooting in US history will rise, as the identities of the 50 people who were gunned down began to emerge.

• 50 are confirmed dead
• Omar Mateen named as shooter
• Mateen was known to FBI
• Islamic State calls Omar Mateen "one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America".
• US president Barack Obama has said the nightclub shooting in Orlando was an "act of terror" and an "act of hate"
• Father of gunman claims religion was not the motive for killings

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  Nightclub gunman was 'peaceful' bodybuilder who wanted to join the police

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  Survivors describe escape from carnage while relatives face anxious wait
• Police confirm Mateen pledged allegiance to IS

Update - 1.45pm: The gunman who massacred 49 people at a US nightclub pledged his allegiance to Islamic State as he spoke on the phone to negotiators, police have confirmed.