Firefighters work to extinguish a fireplace in a lodge at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. —IHA through AP
ANKARA, Turkey — A hearth raged by means of a 12-story lodge at a well-liked ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday throughout a college vacation, killing a minimum of 76 individuals—a minimum of two of them after they jumped from the constructing to flee the flames, officers stated.
At the least 51 individuals additionally had been injured within the fireplace on the Grand Kartal lodge in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers east of Istanbul, stated Inside Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The hearth occurred close to the beginning of a two-week winter break for colleges, when motels within the area are packed.
“We’re in deep ache. We now have sadly misplaced 66 lives within the fireplace that broke out at this lodge,” Yerlikaya instructed reporters after inspecting the location.
Atakan Yelkovan, a lodge visitor staying on the third ground, instructed the IHA information company there was chaos on the higher flooring as different friends tried to flee the hearth, together with by attempting to climb down from their rooms utilizing sheets and blankets.
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“Folks on the higher flooring had been screaming. They hung down sheets … Some tried to leap,” Yelkovan stated.
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Yerlikaya stated 45 of the 76 individuals killed have been recognized whereas efforts to establish the opposite victims had been persevering with.
Well being Minister Kemal Memisoglu stated a minimum of one of many injured was in severe situation, whereas 17 different individuals had been handled and launched.
The lodge had 238 registered friends, Yerlikaya stated. The hearth was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the hearth division started to reply at 4:15 a.m., he instructed reporters.
Began within the lodge’s restaurant part
The federal government appointed six prosecutors to guide an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have began within the lodge’s restaurant part. 9 individuals have been detained as a part of the investigation into the hearth, Yerlikaya stated. Earlier, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated the lodge’s proprietor was among the many individuals detained for questioning within the probe. .
At the least two of the victims died after they jumped from the constructing in panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin instructed the state-run Anadolu Company earlier. These killed included Nedim Turkmen, a columnist for Sozcu newspaper, his spouse and two youngsters, the newspaper introduced.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan introduced a day of nationwide mourning to be noticed on Wednesday. All flags at authorities buildings and Turkish diplomatic mission overseas could be lowered to half-staff, he stated.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski teacher on the lodge, stated he was asleep when the hearth erupted and he rushed out of the constructing. He instructed NTV tv that he then helped some 20 friends out of the lodge.
The lodge was engulfed in smoke, making it troublesome for friends to find the hearth escape, he stated.
“I can not attain a few of my college students. I hope they’re OK,” the ski teacher instructed the station.
Tv photographs confirmed the roof and high flooring of the lodge on fireplace.
Witnesses and studies prompt that the lodge’s fireplace detection system didn’t function.
“My spouse smelled the burning. The alarm didn’t go off,” stated Yelkovan, the visitor interviewed by IHA. “We tried to go upstairs however couldn’t, there have been flames. We went downstairs and got here right here (exterior),” he stated.
Yelkovan stated it took about an hour for the firefighting groups to reach.
NTV tv prompt that the wood cladding on the outside of the lodge, in a chalet-style design, could have accelerated the unfold of the hearth.
A part of the 161-room lodge is on the facet of a cliff, hampering efforts to fight the flames.
“As a result of the rear facet is on a slope, intervention may solely be produced from the entrance and sides,” Yerlikaya confirmed.
Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy instructed reporters that the lodge underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that “no unfavourable scenario concerning fireplace competence” was reported by the hearth division.
Earlier, in an tackle in Ankara, Erdogan stated: “Sadly, we acquired very unhappy information this morning from Bolu, Kartalkaya. Our brothers and sisters had been killed and injured in a fireplace that broke out in a lodge.”
“All crucial steps can be taken to make clear all elements of the incident and to carry these accountable accountable,” he added.
NTV confirmed a smoke-blackened foyer, its glass entrance and home windows smashed, its wood reception desk charred and a chandelier crashed to the bottom.
Aydin’s workplace stated 30 fireplace vehicles and 28 ambulances had been despatched to the location.
Different motels on the resort had been evacuated as a precaution and friends had been positioned in motels round Bolu.
In the meantime, a fuel explosion at a lodge at one other ski resort in central Turkey injured 4 individuals.
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The explosion befell on the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports activities Middle in Sivas province. Two skiers and their teacher had been barely injured whereas one other teacher acquired second-degree burns to the fingers and face, the Sivas governor’s workplace stated. —AP
