
66 Killed in a Hotel Fire in Turkey
NEW DELHI, Jan 21: At least 66 people were killed and scores of others injured in a massive fire that broke out in a 12-storey hotel at a popular ski resort in north-western Turkey on Tuesday, Turkey’s Interior Minister said.
Witnesses said desperate guests had tried to escape using ropes, footage showed bedsheets hanging from the windows, and media reports suggest some had died after trying to jump to safety.
Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people were injured in the disaster that struck the Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometres east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the two-week schools semester break, when hotels in the region are packed.
“We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,” Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site. Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition, while 17 other people had been discharged after being treated, he said.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. local time in the hotel’s restaurant section and spread rapidly, reports said. The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze. At least two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic. There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, official sources said.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told the media that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel. He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape. “I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor told the station.
“I heard screams around midnight, (hotel) residents were shouting for help,” Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, said. “They asked for a blanket, saying they will jump. We did what we could, we brought rope, pillows, we brought a sofa. Some people threw themselves once the flames approached them.” Footage showed the wrecked lobby of the hotel with shards of glass on the floor, the reception desk and the wooden furniture inside charred black. The authorities warned the building could collapse.
Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire. Witnesses and reports said the hotel’s fire detection system failed to operate.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, said. “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here (outside),” he said. Yelkovan said it took about an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive. “People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets … some tried to jump,” he said.
A survivor who managed to escape the flames told local media that no alarms rang at the hotel when the fire started, complaining about the lack of any safety measures including fire stairs or smoke detectors.
Media reports suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire. The 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the reports said. Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that “no negative situation regarding fire competence” was reported by the fire department.
In an address in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip 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 steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and to hold those responsible accountable,” he added.
Official sources said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site. Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.
Meanwhile, a gas explosion at a hotel at another ski resort in central Turkey injured four people. The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Centre in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were slightly injured while another instructor received second-degree burns on the hands and face, the Sivas governor’s office said.
(Manas Dasgupta)