According to Turkey’s Interior Minister, at least 66 people died in a fire that broke out at a 12-story hotel at a well-known ski resort in northwest Turkey on Tuesday, January 21.
According to Ali Yerlikaya, the accident that occurred at the Grand Kartal hotel in the Kartalkaya resort, which is located in the Koroglu mountains of Bolu province, around 300 kilometres (185 miles) east of Istanbul, also injured at least 51 other people.
During the semester break, when hotels in the area are most crowded, the fire happened.
“We are really hurting. Unfortunately, the fire that started at this hotel claimed 66 lives,” Yerlikaya informed reporters following an inspection of the scene.
At least one injured person was in critical condition, said to Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, while 17 others had been treated and released.
238 people were registered at the hotel, according to Yerlikaya.
He informed reporters that the fire department started responding to the fire at 4:15 a.m. after it was reported at 3:27 a.m.
The fire, which is thought to have originated in the hotel’s restaurant area, is being investigated by six prosecutors assigned by the government.
Earlier, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin informed the state-run Anadolu Agency that at least two of the victims died after frantically jumping from the window.
Using blankets and sheets, some people attempted to climb out of their rooms, according to private NTV television and other media.
The hotel’s ski instructor, Necmi Kepcetutan, told NTV television that he was asleep when the fire broke out and that he hurried out of the building after helping about 20 guests leave.
He said that the hotel was covered in smoke, making it difficult for guests to find the fire escape. “I cannot reach some of my students.
I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor told the station. The hotel’s roof and upper floors were on fire, and reports and witnesses indicated that the fire detection system did
“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.
According to Yelkovan, the arrival of the firefighting teams took almost an hour.
“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets … Some tried to jump,” he said.
The hotel’s chalet-style wooden cladding on the outside may have contributed to the fire’s rapid spread, according to NTV television.
Efforts to contain the fire are hampered by the fact that a portion of the 161-room hotel is perched on a cliff.
“Because the rear side is on a slope, intervention could only be made from the front and sides,” Yerlikaya confirmed.
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the minister of tourism, said reporters that the hotel was inspected in 2021 and 2024 and that the fire service had found “no negative situation regarding fire competence.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated during a speech in Ankara that, “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.”
NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby with shattered windows and a glass entry, a burnt wooden reception desk, and a chandelier that had fallen to the floor.
According to Aydin’s office, 28 ambulances and 30 fire trucks were dispatched to the scene. As a precaution, other resort hotels were evacuated, and visitors were accommodated at hotels near Bolu.
Four individuals were hurt in a gas explosion that occurred at a hotel in a different central Turkish ski resort.
The Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Centre in Sivas province is where the explosion occurred. According to the Sivas governor’s office, one teacher suffered second-degree burns to his hands and face, while two skiers and their instructor suffered minor injuries.
l