ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A fire tore through a 12-story hotel in a popular ski resort in northwest Turkey early Tuesday during school holidays, killing at least 76 people, including at least two when they jumped from the building to escape. flames, officials said.
At least 51 people were also injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in the Koroglu mountains of Bolu province, about 300 kilometers east of Istanbul, the minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred shortly before the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when area hotels were crowded.
“Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning,” Yerlikaya told reporters outside the hotel. “But know that whoever is responsible for this pain will not escape justice.”
Atakan Yelkovan, a hotel guest staying on the third floor, told IHA news agency that chaos reigned on the upper floors as other guests attempted to escape, including trying to get off their bedroom using sheets and blankets.
“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung up sheets… Some tried to jump,” Elkovan said.
Yerlikaya said 45 of the 76 people killed have been identified while efforts to identify the remaining victims continue.
“Forty-five bodies were handed over to their families. We could not (immediately) identify the others,” Yerlikaya said, adding that emergency response teams would conduct a final search for the victims on Wednesday.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition, while 17 others had been treated and released.
AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on a fire at a ski resort hotel in Türkiye.
The hotel had 238 registered guests, Yerlikaya said. The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and firefighters began responding at 4:15 a.m., he told reporters.
The government has appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the fire, which is believed to have started in the restaurant section of the hotel. Nine people were arrested as part of the investigation into the fire, Yerlikaya said. Earlier, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel owner was among those arrested for questioning as part of the investigation.
At least two of the victims died when they jumped from the building in panic, Governor Abdulaziz Aydin told state-run Anadolu Agency earlier. Among those killed were Sozcu newspaper columnist Nedim Turkmen, his wife and two children, the newspaper said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a day of national mourning on Wednesday. All flags in government buildings and Turkish diplomatic missions abroad will be flown at half-mast, he said.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was sleeping when the fire broke out and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped around 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 can’t reach some of my students. I hope they are well,” said the ski instructor at the resort.
Television images showed the roof and upper floors of the hotel on fire.
Witnesses and reports suggest the hotel’s fire detection system failed to work.
“My wife smelled burning. The alarm did not go off,” said Yelkovan, the guest interviewed by IHA. “We tried to go upstairs but we couldn’t, there were flames. We came down and came here (outside),” he said.
Yelkovan said it took fire crews about an hour to arrive.
NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the chalet-style exterior of the hotel could have accelerated the spread of the fire.
Part of the 161-room hotel sits on a cliffside, hampering efforts to fight the flames.
“As the rear is sloping, the intervention can only be done from the front and sides,” confirmed Yerlikaya.
Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel had undergone inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that “no negative situations regarding fire competence” had been reported by the firefighters.
Earlier, in a speech in Ankara, 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 measures will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and hold those responsible to account,” he added.
NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows shattered, its reception counter made of charred wood and a chandelier crashed to the floor.
Aydin’s office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the scene.
Other hotels in the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.
Meanwhile, a gas explosion at a hotel in 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 suffered second-degree burns to his hands and face, the Sivas governor’s office said.
