Turkey fire: Dozens killed in Bolu ski resort hotel blaze

Blaze broke out in the middle of the night at a hotel in Kartalkaya

At least 66 people were killed in a fire at a hotel at a popular ski resort in north-western Turkey on Tuesday, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

At least 51 other people were injured in the blaze.

“We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,” Mr Yerlikaya said.

Turkey's Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of those injured was in serious condition, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a day of mourning.

The fire broke out at about 3.30am in the restaurant of the 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu province. Television footage showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.

Two people died after jumping from the building in a bid to escape the blaze, provincial governor Abdulaziz Aydin told Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency. The private NTV channel reported that some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.

Mr Aydin's office said 30 fire engines and 28 ambulances attended the site.

Mr Yerlikaya said there were 238 guests at the hotel. The wreckage was still smouldering in the afternoon.

“The fire has now been extinguished. Cooling efforts are ongoing," he added. "Since the back of the hotel is on a slope, fire extinguishing efforts could only be carried out from the front and side facades.”

Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire started and he fled the building after waking up. He told NTV that he then helped about 20 guests out of the hotel.

He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for people to find the fire exit. “I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” he said.

Baris Salgur, a hotel guest, told NTV that people jumped from windows to escape, including two women on the top floor who urged those on the ground to find pillows for them to land on. “When the fire got close they jumped right away,” he said.

Witnesses and reports said the hotel’s fire detection system failed. A guest told Ekol TV that he and his family woke up during the fire but did not hear alarms, then entered smoke-filled corridors and eventually jumped from a lower-floor window on to the snow below.

“My wife smelt the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency. “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here [outside]."

The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze.

The 161-room hotel has chalet-style wooden cladding and sits on the edge of a steep drop. NTV footage showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows smashed, its wooden reception desk charred and a chandelier on the ground.

Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, about 300km east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school holidays when hotels in the region are fully occupied.

Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.

Meanwhile, four people were injured in a gas explosion at a hotel at another ski resort in central Turkey. The blast took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Centre, in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were injured while another instructor received second-degree burns on the hands and face, the Sivas governor’s office said.

With reporting from agencies