Nine people detained as part of an investigation Turkey is conducting after a fire broke out at a popular ski resort killing at least 76 people.
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A fire raged through a 12-story hotel in the northwestern Turkish province of Bolu on Monday evening, killing at least 76 people. Officials say at least two of them died after jumping from the building to escape the flames.
More than 50 others were also injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya ski resort, according to Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire broke out during a busy time of the year when hotels are packed, as schools around the country take a two-week winter break.
“Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning,” said Yerlikaya to reporters outside the hotel. “You should know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice,” he added.
Nine people have been detained as part of an investigation into the fire. Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel owner was among those detained for questioning in the probe.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze, believed to have started in the hotel’s restaurant section before rapidly spreading around the building.
The hotel had 248 registered guests at the time of the fire, which was reported at 3:27 am local time (1:27 am CET). The fire department says it began to respond to the crisis within the hour.
Yerlikaya says 45 of the 76 people confirmed dead have been identified, while efforts to identify the remaining victims were continuing. The bodies of those identified were delivered to their families.
At least one of the injured was in critical condition, while 17 others were promptly treated and released from hospital, having only sustained minor wounds, according to Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu.
The event sent shockwaves throughout the country after details emerged of what the victims went through.
Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, told Turkish media outlets that there was chaos on the upper floors as other guests scrambled, attempting to escape.
“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets … some tried to jump,” said Yelkovan.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a hotel ski instructor, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and rushed out of the building. He was able to help some 20 guests evacuate but says getting out was incredibly difficult, as smoke engulfed the hotel’s floors, making it difficult to locate the fire escape.
Footage of the blaze circulating on social media and Turkish television channels showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire. Witnesses and early reports suggest the hotel’s fire detection system failed. Reports also say that the wooden cladding on the hotel's exterior may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” said Yelkovan. “We tried to go upstairs, but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came outside”.
Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel underwent inspections for fire safety and competence in 2021 and 2024. Ersoy says that the fire department reported no issues in both inspections.
Yelkovan also noted that it took firefighting teams about an hour to arrive at the hotel. Interior Minister Yerlikaya says the delay was due to part of the 161-room hotel being on the side of a cliff, which hampered relief efforts.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a day of national mourning to be observed on Wednesday. He added that all flags at government buildings and Turkish diplomatic missions abroad would be lowered to half-mast to honour the victims.
In an address on Tuesday, the Turkish leader 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.”
Erdogan stressed that all necessary steps would be taken to identify what happened and how exactly the fire was caused, noting that anyone found responsible for the tragic incident will be held to account.
Other hotels at the ski resort were evacuated as a precaution, and guests were placed in various hotels across the Bolu province.