Wednesday, January 22, 2025 - A fire at a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, Jan. 21, k!lled at least 66 people, Turkey’s Interior Minister said.
Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people
were injured in the disaster that struck the Grand Kartal hotel in the resort
of Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185
miles) east of Istanbul.
The fire occurred during the schools'
semester break, when hotels in the region are packed.
“We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately
lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,” Yerlikaya told
reporters after inspecting the site.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at
least one of the injured was in serious condition, while 17 other people had
been discharged after being treated.
The hotel had 238 registered guests,
Yerlikaya said.
The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the fire department began to respond at
4:15 a.m., he told reporters.
The government appointed six prosecutors to
lead an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have started in the
hotel’s restaurant section.
At least two of the victims d!ed after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency earlier. Private NTV television and other media reported that 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 television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the
hotel.
The hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it
difficult for guests to locate the fire escape, he said.
“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 suggested that 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, 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.
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.
“Because the rear side is on a slope, intervention could only be made from the
front and sides,” Yerlikaya confirmed.
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, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said:
“Unfortunately, we received very sad news this morning from Bolu, Kartalkaya.
Our brothers and sisters were killed and injured in a fire that broke out in a
hotel.”
“All necessary steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the
incident and to hold those responsible accountable,” he added.
NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows
smashed, its wooden reception desk charred and a chandelier crashed to the
ground.
Aydin’s office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the
site.
Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were
placed in hotels around Bolu. 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 to the hands and face, the
Sivas governor’s office said.
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