A fire raged through a 12-storey hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people.
At least 51 people were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 185 miles east of Istanbul, said interior minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire happened near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. At least two people died after they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said.
“Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning,” Mr Yerlikaya told reporters outside the hotel. “But you should know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice.” Dramatic images show flames roar from the large building, which caters for skiiers and snowboarders during open seson from between around December 20 to March 20.
Four people, including the business owner, have been arrested by Turkish authorities, the nation’s justice secretary said.
Around 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site. There were 234 guests staying at the hotel at the time of the fire. The nationalities of the victims have not yet been confirmed.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, officials and reports said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.
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 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.
Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.
Witnesses and reports said the hotel’s fire detection system failed to operate.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency.
“We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here (outside),” he said.
Yelkovan said it took about an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive.
“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets … some tried to jump,” he said.
Television footage shows the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire. The cause of the fire is not immediately known at this stage. Other hotels in the area have been evacuated as a precaution.
At least two people died after a fire ripped through accommodation in Courchevel in France in 2019. People there jumped from balconies or windows to escape the blaze, and some fled into the freezing cold wearing just their underwear after they were woken from their sleep.
Last week, a British skier died after a horror collision with a man on a black slope in France. The 65-year-old woman is believed to have been going down the steep slope on the Aiguille Rouge when she collided into the 35-year-old man, who was stood still at the time and suffered a broken leg, French news outlet Le Dauphine reports.
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