Hotel fire at Turkiye ski resort kills at least 76 people

A hotel fire in a ski resort in northwestern Turkiye has killed at least 76 people and injured dozens of others, officials said.

The blaze broke out overnight in the restaurant of the hotel in Kartalkaya in Bolu province, Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday, adding that 51 others were injured.

“Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning, ” Yerlikaya told reporters outside the hotel. “But you should know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice.”

Yerlikaya said 45 of the 76 people killed have been identified while efforts to identify the other victims were continuing.

“Forty-five bodies were delivered to their families. We could not (immediately) identify the others,” Yerlikaya said, adding that the emergency response teams would conduct a final search for victims on Wednesday.

Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition.

The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have started in the hotel’s restaurant section.

Nine people have been detained as part of the investigation into the fire, Yerlikaya said. Earlier, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel’s owner was among the people detained for questioning in the probe.

Speaking to Turkish news outlet TRT, Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydin said the fire began on the fourth floor of the 11-storey hotel at about 3:30am (00:30 GMT). Hours later, firefighters were still working to put it out.

Two of the victims died after jumping out of the building, Aydin told the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The hotel had 238 registered guests, Yerlikaya said.

Television images showed the roof and top floors of the building 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, told the IHA news agency.

“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.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the state institutions are working to “shed light” on the incident.

“All necessary steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and to hold those responsible accountable,” he said, addressing this deputies in the capital Ankara.

The 161-room hotel is located on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the NTV television station reported. It showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows smashed, its wooden reception desk charred and a chandelier crashed to the ground.

Kartalkaya is one of Turkiye’s premier winter tourism destinations, attracting thousands of visitors during the ski season. The resort lies about 295km (183 miles) east of Istanbul.