A fire broke out early this morning at a hotel in a popular ski resort in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bolu, leaving at least 76 people dead and 51 others injured, according to the latest reports, although rescue teams are still examining the charred rooms of the building and fear there may be more casualties.
Turkish news agency Anatolia reported that the fire broke out at around 3:30 am (1:30 am CET) on the fourth floor of the 12-storey hotel at a time when guests were asleep, undoubtedly adding to the death toll. At least 30 fire engines and 28 ambulances as well as 231 emergency personnel were rushed to the scene of the tragedy from Bolu and other nearby provinces.
Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydın said the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage, but confirmed that the fire started on the floor housing the restaurant of the hotel, which is located in the Kartalkaya ski resort and at the time of the incident housed 234 guests. Aydın said that a field hospital had been set up next to the scene of the incident to treat the victims and injured.
The flames quickly engulfed the building, aided by the wooden cladding covering the entire façade of the hotel. Several videos recorded by eyewitnesses showed gruesome and horrific scenes, with guests screaming for help and knotting sheets to climb out of windows to escape the fire. A hotel worker said he saw a man screaming for his baby, whom he was going to throw out of the window to save him. At least two of the victims died when they jumped from the windows of their rooms in panic, the governor confirmed.
In the middle of school holidays, the hotel was full of guests
Hours after the fire broke out at the hotel, firefighters were still trying in the morning to extinguish the flames on the upper floors and struggling to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings. The firefighters’ efforts were severely hampered by the hotel’s location at the foot of a cliff and the difficulties in reaching the area, with the roads covered in ice due to the low temperatures at that time of night.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, who was kept informed of the incident through phone conversations with several ministers and rescue workers, expressed his condolences for the victims in a message posted on social media. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced that 6 prosecutors and a team of 5 experts had been assigned to an official investigation launched into the terrible event, which should clarify the exact causes of the fire and whether the hotel managers committed any negligence that contributed to the tragedy.
The Kartalkaya ski resort is located high in the Köroğlu Mountains and some 270 kilometres east of Istanbul, and is a popular tourist destination for winter tourism and those looking to enjoy the ski season. The fire at the hotel also coincides with the school holidays that started only a few days ago, so hotels are full and the guests are in many cases young students or families with children.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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