Fire in a hotel in a ski resort in Turkey: 10 dead, 32 injured

Istanbul: A fire ripped through a hotel in a ski resort in northwest Turkey on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring 32 others, the interior minister said.

Witnesses said desperate guests tried to escape using ropes, footage showed sheets hanging from windows, and media reports said some died trying to jump to safety.

Several ministers arrived at the scene in the Kartalkaya resort, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the capital Ankara, and officials said the fire had been contained.

The fire broke out at 3:27 a.m. (00:27 GMT) at the 12-story, wood-paneled Grand Kartal Hotel, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told X.

Local media reported that at least 230 people were staying at the hotel during peak hours during the two-week school holidays.

The private broadcaster NTV reported that among the dead were three people who jumped out of the hotel windows.

The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant and quickly spread, although it is not yet known what caused it.

Part of it returns to the rock, which makes it difficult for firefighters to fight the fire.

Television footage showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky, with a snow-capped mountain behind the hotel.

“Around midnight, I heard screams, residents (of the hotel) were shouting for help,” Barys Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, told NTV.

“They asked for a blanket, they said they were going to jump… we did everything we could, we brought a rope, pillows, we brought a sofa. Some people jumped when the flames came towards them.”

Officials fear that the death toll may rise.

“No Security”

The footage shows the destroyed lobby of the hotel with shards of glass on the floor, the reception desk and wooden furniture inside charred to black.

The authorities warned that the building could collapse.

The victim, who managed to escape the flames, told local media that the hotel did not have an alarm going off when the fire broke out, complaining that there were no safety measures in place, including a fire escape or smoke detector.

The video showed sheets hanging from the windows of the hotel, indicating that some had tied them to escape the fire.

“I pray to God for mercy on our citizens who lost their lives in the fire,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on X.

He said he wished the victims of “this tragic accident” a speedy recovery, adding that an investigation had been launched.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that six prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the fire.

The evacuees were moved to nearby hotels.