Hotel fire in Türkiye: questions multiply about security measures in the resort after 79 deaths | Türkiye

Turkish authorities are facing growing questions over security measures at a hotel at a popular ski resort that was gutted by a fire, killing 79 people and injuring more than 50.

Survivors said they did not hear alarms when the fire broke out early Tuesday morning in the resort town of Kartalkaya in the Bolu Mountains. Harrowing accounts emerged of people navigating smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness and jumping out of windows.

“No fire alarm went off… and there was no emergency exit,” Atakan Yelkovan, one of the guests, told the IHA news agency. Speaking to Turkish media, many survivors told the same story.

Forensic units continued to identify victims on Wednesday as flags were flown at half-mast across the country on a day of national mourning.

“We are suffering deeply,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site of the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, about 300 km east of Istanbul. “But know that whoever is responsible for this pain will not escape justice.”

Authorities said 11 people were arrested as part of the investigation, including a deputy mayor of Bolu province and the hotel’s owner and manager. The hotel pledged to fully cooperate with the investigation in a statement released Wednesday. “We are cooperating with authorities to shed light on all aspects of this incident,” the statement said. “We are deeply saddened by these losses and want you to know that we share this pain with all our hearts. »

Yerlikaya said the fire was reported around 3:27 a.m. (0027 GMT) and firefighters were on scene about 45 minutes later. Several survivors and witnesses reported smelling smoke and seeing flames as early as 2:30 a.m.

Cetin, an employee at an adjacent hotel, told the Associated Press: “There was no one around. They called the firefighters. They were breaking the windows. Some could no longer stand the smoke and flames and jumped. »

Necmi Kepçetutan, a ski instructor employed at the hotel, told NTV that “people were shouting to be saved.” An employee at a nearby hotel described seeing a child hanging from a window screaming for help. “I was deeply disturbed. I still can’t forget that image,” he said.

Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, who was among those who visited the site on Tuesday, said the hotel had the necessary fire precautions in place, with authorities inspecting it in 2021 and 2024 and “no fire safety issues…reported by firefighters.”

It is unclear what exactly started the fire, but unconfirmed press reports indicated that the fire started in a restaurant. Officials and witnesses said rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that part of the 161-room hotel was on a cliffside.

An estimated 238 guests were staying at the hotel Monday evening, the start of a two-week winter break for schools when area lodging is packed. A quarter of the guests were children.

Local media reported that entire families had died in the fire. Among those buried Wednesday were a husband and wife and their three children, including twins.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan traveled to Bolu from the capital Ankara to attend the funeral of eight members of the Gültekin family, linked to an official in his ruling party. “Our hearts are broken,” Erdoğan said at the funeral of Zehra Sena Gültekin, her husband, their four children and another relative. “May God grant us patience.”