Deadly Fire at Turkish Ski Resort Hotel Claims 10 Lives
A devastating fire at a hotel in a popular Turkish ski resort on Tuesday has left at least 10 people dead and 32 others hospitalized, The Associated Press reports.
The blaze broke out in the early hours of the morning at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, a resort located in Bolu province, northwest Turkey.
The fire is believed to have started around 3:30 a.m. in the hotel’s restaurant, according to local officials and reports. The 12-story building was quickly engulfed, leading to a chaotic evacuation.
Private NTV television reported that some guests attempted to escape from their rooms by using bedsheets and blankets to climb down the side of the hotel.
At the time of the fire, there were 234 guests staying at the 161-room Grand Kartal Hotel, a popular destination in the Koroglu mountains, approximately 185 miles east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school semester break, a period when resorts in the region typically experience high occupancy rates.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, recounted his experience to NTV television. He stated he was asleep when the fire erupted and managed to escape the building. He then assisted approximately 20 guests in evacuating. Kepcetutan described the hotel as being filled with smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate fire exits.
Television footage showed flames and smoke engulfing the roof and upper floors of the hotel. Concerns have been raised about the hotel’s chalet-style design, which incorporates wooden cladding on its exterior, which may have accelerated the fire’s spread, according to NTV television. The hotel’s location on the side of a cliff also hampered firefighting efforts.
In response to the disaster, the Turkish government has assigned six prosecutors to lead a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire. Authorities dispatched 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances to the scene.
As a precautionary measure, other hotels at the resort were evacuated, and the affected guests were relocated to accommodations around Bolu.
