Fire raged through a 12-storey ski resort hotel in Turkey early on Tuesday, killing at least 76 people, at least two of whom died jumping from the building to escape the flames.
Nine people, including the hotel’s owner, were detained for questioning as an investigation began into the blaze at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, about 300km (185 miles) east of Istanbul.
“We are in deep pain,” interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said after he visited the scene of the disaster. Police detained nine people as part of the investigation, Mr Yerlikaya said.
The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. There were 234 guests, of whom 51 were injured, one of them critically.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” said Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor. “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here [outside].”
He said it took about an hour for firefighters to arrive. “People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets ... Some tried to jump,” he said.
Omer Sakrak, an employee of a neighbouring hotel, said:”People all started to jump with panic. One friend jumped from the 11th floor – may God have mercy on him.
“They tried to climb down using bedsheets. The bedsheets ripped as one friend tried ... and he unfortunately fell on his head. One father was yelling about his one year-old child: ‘I will throw my child or he will burn’.”
The fire broke out at around 0330 local time [GMT 0030] in the restaurant. Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, regional governor Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
Mapped: Kartalkaya in Bolu province
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.
He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.
“I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor told the station.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead the investigation into the fire. NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
Part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames. “Since the back of the hotel is on a slope, fire extinguishing efforts could only be carried out from the front and side facades,” the interior minister said.
Tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that "no negative situation regarding fire competence" was reported by the fire department.
In an address in Ankara, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday a day of national mourning and said: “All necessary steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and to hold those responsible accountable.”
Meanwhile, a gas explosion at a hotel at another ski resort in central Turkey injured four people. The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were slightly injured while another instructor received second-degree burns on the hands and face, the Sivas governor’s office said.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
