"Some tried to jump" Death toll in Turkish ski hotel fire rises to 76
Many guests were sleeping when a fire suddenly broke out and trapped them. In desperation, some jump from the upper floors. Dozens of deaths have now been confirmed.
21.01.2025, 20:40
dpa
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- After the fire in a ski hotel in Turkey, the number of victims has risen further.
- According to the latest information, 76 people died in the accident, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Tuesday evening.
- Previously there had been talk of 66 dead and 52 injured. 52 fatalities have been identified so far, Yerlikaya said.
The number of people killed in a fire at a hotel in a ski resort in northwest Turkey has risen to at least 76, according to government figures. 45 of them have been identified, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday. Nine people have been arrested in the investigation into the tragedy.
According to Yerlikaya, the fire broke out on Tuesday night in the restaurant of the twelve-storey "Grand Kartel" hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province. Two of the victims were killed when they jumped out of the building in panic, Governor Abdulaziz Aydin told the state news agency Anadolu. Some had tried to shimmy out of their hotel rooms using knotted bed sheets and blankets. According to Aydin, more than 230 guests were staying in the 161-room hotel. 30 fire engines and 28 ambulances were deployed for the rescue. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel owner had been detained for questioning.
The hotel's fire alarm system was faulty
Television footage showed the roof and upper floors of the hotel ablaze. Ski instructor Necmi Kepcetutan reported that he had been asleep when the fire broke out. He then rushed out of the hotel and helped around 20 guests to escape from the building, he told NTV. The hotel was shrouded in smoke, which made it difficult for guests to find the emergency exit. "I can't reach some of my students. I hope they are okay," said the ski instructor.
According to witnesses, the hotel's fire alarm system was not working. "My wife smelled the fire. The alarm didn't go off," Atakan Yelkovan, a guest on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency. It took about an hour for the fire department to arrive, he said. "People on the upper floors were screaming. They were hanging down sheets," said Yelkovan. "Some tried to jump."
Wood paneling favors fire
The government assigned six prosecutors to investigate the cause of the fire. The NTV report speculated that the wooden cladding on the facade of the chalet-style hotel could have facilitated the spread of the fire. According to the report, the hotel is located directly on a slope, which is said to hinder firefighting efforts.
NTV showed footage of the smoke-blackened lobby with a shattered glass entrance. The wooden reception desk was charred and a chandelier had fallen to the ground.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu Mountains and is located around 300 kilometers east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school vacations, so hotels in the region are full. Other guesthouses in the ski resort were evacuated as a precaution and customers were accommodated in other hotels in Bolu.