A fire spread through a 12 -story hotel in a popular skiing station in northwest early Turkey on Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 66 people, two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames , the authorities said.
At least 51 people were injured in the fire in the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, in the Korogu mountains of the province of Bolu, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred near the start of a two -week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are full.
“We have deep pain. Unfortunately, we have lost 66 lives in the fire that exploded in this hotel, ”Yerlikaya told journalists after inspecting the site.
Atakan Yelkovan, a host of the hotel that stayed on the third floor, told the news agency IHA that there were chaos on the upper floors while other guests tried to escape from the fire, even trying to get off their rooms with sheets and blankets.
“People on the upper floors shouted. They hung leaves … Some tried to jump, “Yelkovan said.
The Minister of Health, Kemal Memisoglu, said that at least one of the injured was in serious condition, while 17 other people were treated and released.
The hotel had 238 registered guests, said Yerlikaya. The fire was reported at 3:27 am and the Fire Department began to respond at 4:15 am, he told reporters.
Get daily national news
Get the main news, political, economic and current headlines of the day, delivered to your entrance tray once a day.
The Government appointed six prosecutors to direct an investigation into the fire, which is believed to begin in the hotel restaurant section. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that four people, including the hotel owner, were arrested for questioning as part of the investigation.
At least two of the victims died when they jumped from the panic building, said Governor Abdulaziz Aydin to the state agency Anadolu before. Necmi Kepcetuan, a skiing instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire broke out and ran from the building. He told NTV Television that he later helped some 20 guests to the hotel.
The hotel was wrapped in smoke, which hinders guests to locate the fire staircase, he said.
“I can’t reach some of my students. I hope they are fine, ”said the skiing instructor to the station.
The television images showed the roof and the upper floors of the hotel on fire.
Witnesses and reports suggested that the hotel’s fire detection system did not work.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not shoot, ”said Yelkovan, the guest interviewed by IHA. “We tried to go up, but we couldn’t, there were flames. We went down and came here (outside), ”he said.
Yelkovan said that fire fighting teams took about an hour to arrive.
NTV Television suggested that the wood coating outside the hotel, in a villa -style design, may have accelerated the propagation of fire. Part of the 161 room hotel is on the side of a cliff, which hinders efforts to combat the flames.
“Because the rear is on a slope, the intervention can only be done from the front and the sides,” Yerlikaya confirmed.
Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told journalists that the hotel experienced inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that the Fire Department did not report “the negative situation regarding fire competition.”
In an address in Ankara, President Rece Tayyip Erdogan said: “Unfortunately, we received very sad news this Bolu morning, Kartalkaya. Our brothers and sisters were killed and injured in a fire that exploded in a hotel. “
“All the necessary steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and to hold those responsible,” he added.
NTV showed a black smoke lobby, its glass entrance and shattered windows, its carbonized wood reception counter and a spider lamp crashed into the floor.
Aydin’s office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances to the site were sent. Other hotels in the complex were evacuated as caution and the guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.
Global Affairs Canada told Global News that he has no knowledge of the injured Canadians or killed in the fire.
Meanwhile, a gas explosion in a hotel in another ski season in the center of Türkiye wounded four people.
The explosion took place in the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in the province of Sivas. Two skiers and his instructor were slightly injured, while another instructor received second degree burns in his hands and face, said Sivas governor’s office.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
