Tragic Hotel Blaze Claims at Least 76 Lives at Turkish Ski Resort
The tranquility of a winter holiday turned into a nightmare early Tuesday as an inferno engulfed a towering 12-story hotel at a beloved ski resort in northwestern Turkey. The devastating blaze claimed the lives of at least 76 people, among them, tragically, two individuals who leaped from the structure attempting a desperate escape, authorities reported.
Situated in the picturesque Koroglu Mountains, some 185 miles east of Istanbul, the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya faced a horrific calamity that injured an additional 51 people, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. This tragedy struck just as schools commenced their eagerly awaited two-week winter holiday, a peak season for vacationers.
“We stand here today, heartbroken and grieving,” declared Yerlikaya, addressing journalists amid the smoldering debris at the scene. “But rest assured, those who hold responsibility for this tragedy will face the music.”
Stories of sheer panic emerge from eyewitnesses, like Atakan Yelkovan, a third-floor hotel guest who recounted to IHA news agency the sheer chaos as fellow guests, caught in confusion and fear, scrambled for safety. Sheets and blankets dangled from windows as some opted for the risky strategy of climbing down to escape the advancing flames.
“People were screaming from the upper levels, attempting all they could to get out,” Yelkovan shared, painting a picture of mayhem.
By Wednesday, officials had put names to 45 of the 76 souls lost, while the painstaking process of identification continued. “The pain we feel is immense,” Yerlikaya admitted, adding that emergency search efforts would persist until every victim is accounted for.
In a grim tally of injuries, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu detailed that a critically injured individual was among the survivors, with 17 others already treated and discharged.
Registered with 238 guests at the hotel, Yerlikaya narrated a harrowing timeline starting at 3:27 a.m. when the alarm was raised, with firefighting squads not arriving until an agonizing 4:15 a.m.
Prosecutors tallying to half a dozen have been deployed to dig into the cause of the disaster, with suspicions zeroing in on the hotel’s restaurant as the ignition point. Among those held for questioning is the hotel owner himself, a revelation from Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc. Imagine the shock, the disbelief—how did things spiral into such horror?
Among the victims, leaping out in panic was a fateful choice for at least two, explained Governor Abdulaziz Aydin, speaking through the state-run Anadolu Agency. The nation mourns the loss of notable individuals like Nedim Turkmen, a respected columnist for Sozcu newspaper, whose family also perished in this catastrophe.
In a poignant gesture of solidarity and sorrow, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pronounced a national day of mourning, with all flags at state locations and Turkish embassies flying at half-mast.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, remembered the horror vividly. Awakening to the acrid smoke, he quickly evacuated and then played the hero, guiding around 20 guests to safety from the enveloping inferno.
The challenge for escapees was compounded by a blackened labyrinth of smoke-filled corridors, obscuring lifelines to safety like the elusive fire escapes. “I just hope they made it,” Kepcetutan mused, worried for his ski students.
The vivid images broadcast on television withheld no detail—the hotel’s roof and upper floors illuminated in eerie flames. Shivers ran down spines nationwide.
Whispers among witnesses claimed the hotel’s fire alert system failed dismally. “My wife sniffed the smoke; no alarms blared,” lamented Yelkovan, divulging the disturbing oversight.
Architectural design added fuel to the fire, quite literally. NTV news suggested that the rustic wooden façade of the hotel, its charming chalet look, may have accelerated the blaze’s swift spread.
And then there were the cliffs—a natural barrier on the hotel’s rear, forcing emergency responders to fight on limited fronts. “We could only tackle it from the front and side views,” Yerlikaya confirmed.
Emphasizing preventive measures, Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy assured reporters that prior inspections in 2021 and again in 2024 had yielded no adverse findings about fire safety measures. Yet, here we are.
Speaking from Ankara earlier, Erdogan lamented, “We awoke to tragic news from Bolu, Kartalkaya. Our compatriots have perished and suffered injuries from this fire.” He promised a thorough inquiry, vowing accountability for all involved breaching codes of safety or ethics.
Inside the hotel now, a scene out of a disaster film—soot-streaked lobby, its glass shattered, the elegant wooden counter charred, and even the chandelier befallen.
Swift responders arrived en masse, dispatching 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances to the location. Precautions triggered around the region’s resorts too, seeing guests safely relocated to other hospitable accommodations in Bolu.
As if the universe added a cruel punchline, another hotel at a separate ski venue in central Turkey witnessed a gas blast, injuring four. This explosion shattered the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in Sivas province. Is misfortune having a field day? Ambulances raced for the injured skiers and instructors where minor and second-degree burns were inflicted.
As a nation grieves, the questions fly like sparks. Did laxity invite disaster’s visit? Answers linger in the smoke-filled air, awaiting capture by investigators delving into these layers of chaos and grief.
Report by Axadle