At least 10 people were killed and 32 others were injured Tuesday after a fire broke out at a hotel with more than 200 guests at a ski resort in western Turkey, authorities said.
The fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the town of Kartalkaya in Bolu province occurred during the winter break for schools across the country, a time when families flock to ski resorts and other vacation spots.
The fire started around 3:30 am local time, when most of the occupants were sleeping, according to reports. In an evacuation effort, some occupants strung sheets together to make a rope that they used to descend to a lower floor, video footage shown.
The cause of the fire was not clear.
Television footage showed smoke billowing from a building framed by snow-capped mountains. Dozens of rescuers and fire trucks were dispatched from surrounding towns.
“When I left my room, I saw flames on the fourth floor, the restaurant floor,” Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor who also worked at the hotel, told the NTV network. “Then he started to spread the hotel. We helped about a dozen people or more to evacuate as we know the hotel very well.
He added that he could not reach some students because the smoke was too intense. “People were screaming to be saved,” he told the broadcaster.
Two people – a guest and a hotel employee – died after jumping from the building, Bolu Province Governor Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
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2025-01-21 12:02:00
