A devastating fire tore through a 12-story hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, claiming the lives of at least 66 people.
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Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that at least 51 people were injured in a fire that engulfed the Grand Kartal Hotel, located in the popular Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province’s Koroglu Mountains, approximately 185 miles east of Istanbul.
“We are in deep pain,” Yerlikaya told reporters at the site of the fire, per the New York Post. “We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel.”
Turkey: 66 people were killed overnight by a fire that engulfed a ski resort hotel in the town of Bolu pic.twitter.com/8Y0FQxR0i1
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Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu reported that one of the injured remains in critical condition. Meanwhile, 17 others have been treated and discharged.
The fire erupted around 3:30 a.m. local time in the restaurant section of the hotel, according to The Post, citing local reports. In response, the government assigned a team of six prosecutors to spearhead the investigation into the incident.
At least two victims lost their lives after jumping from the building in a desperate panic, Governor Abdulaziz Aydin revealed to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Meanwhile, other local media outlets reported that some individuals attempted to escape their rooms by climbing down using makeshift ropes fashioned from sheets and blankets.
According to Aydin, the hotel was hosting 234 guests.
Eyewitnesses Recount the Devastating Hotel Fire
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, recounted being asleep when the fire broke out. Awakened by the chaos, he quickly evacuated the building and subsequently assisted around 20 guests in escaping. Speaking to a local outlet, he described the hotel being shrouded in thick smoke. It made it challenging for guests to find the fire escape.
“I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor recalled, per the New York Post.
According to witnesses and reports, the hotel’s fire detection system failed to function properly. Atakan Yelkovan, a guest on the hotel’s third floor, said the fire alarm never went off at all.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Yelkovan told a local outlet, per The Post. “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t; there were flames. We went downstairs and came here [outside].”
Yelkovan claimed that it took approximately an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive on the scene.
“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets… some tried to jump,” he recalled.
Some reports indicated that the wooden chalet-style cladding on the hotel’s exterior might have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. Positioned on a cliffside, the 161-room hotel also presented significant challenges for firefighters attempting to control the blaze.
Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the hotel was inspected in 2021 and 2024, with no fire safety issues reported by the fire department.