A fire swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in Turkey's Bolu Mountains, claiming the lives of 66 people. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday at the popular Kartalkaya ski resort, has sent shockwaves due to the tragic inferno.
The fire started around 3:30 am on the restaurant floor of the 12-story hotel, rapidly engulfing the building. There was chaos and panic as smoke filled the corridors and the hotel's fire detection system reportedly malfunctioned.
Guests trapped on upper floors resorted to desperate measures, using bed sheets tied together as makeshift ropes to climb down or even leaping from windows to escape the inferno. Two guests lost their lives due to these panicked jumps.
Television footage captured the horrifying scene: the hotel's roof and upper floors ablaze, the lobby blackened and littered with debris, and charred wooden cladding serving as a grim reminder of the fire's intensity. Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor who managed to escape, recounted his experience. He described helping around 20 guests evacuate, but the thick smoke made it difficult to find the fire escapes.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu confirmed the death toll: 51 people injured, with one in critical condition. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya expressed the nation's grief.
Guests reported significant delays in the arrival of firefighting teams, with some claiming it took nearly an hour for help to reach the isolated mountain resort. This delay, coupled with the alleged failure of the hotel's fire alarm system made it a more complex situation. Atakan Yelkovan, a guest who narrowly escaped from the third floor, recounted the terrifying moments, "People on the upper floors were screaming. With the fire alarm failure, tourist barely had time to escape the fire”.
A thorough investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire; initial reports suggest that the chalet-style wooden cladding on the hotel's exterior might be the reason to the rapid spread of fire. As the hotel's has a cliff side and this hampered firefighting efforts from the fire fighters.
This tragedy struck during Turkey's school semester break, a peak travel period when hotels in the region are typically full. As a precaution, other hotels in the resort were evacuated, and guests were relocated to accommodations in nearby Bolu.
Adding to the day's fire incident, a gas explosion at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Centre in Sivas province injured four people. Though unrelated to the hotel fire, this incident has given a further scare to the tourists.
