Fire at Turkish ski resort leaves 10 dead and 32 injured - as two people die jumping from hotel windows
21 January 2025, 09:13 | Updated: 21 January 2025, 09:14
A fire at a hotel in a popular Turkish ski resort has left ten people dead and a further 32 injured - with three people reported to have died after jumping from hotel windows.
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The tragic incident saw a blaze take hold at a restaurant below the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in Bolu province, Turkey, during the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The fire broke out at around 3.30am, with the cause of the fire still under investigation, local officials confirmed.
Two of the victims are reported to have died after jumping from the building in a panic after the fire took hold, with private NTV television reporting some holidaymakers tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.
The governor, Abdulaziz Aydin, confirmed the fatalities to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Mr Aydin confirmed.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building.
He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.
He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.
"I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK," the ski instructor told the station.
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Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the fire.
NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
The 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the station also reported.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, some 185 miles east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during school holidays when hotels in the region are packed.
Mr Aydin's office said 30 fire engines and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.
Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.
