Inferno guts Turkish ski resort hotel, killing 76

KARTALKAYA — A fire at a ski resort hotel in Turkiye's Bolu mountains killed 76 people and injured dozens on Tuesday, forcing panicked guests to jump out of windows in the middle of the night.

"It was like the apocalypse. The flames engulfed the hotel immediately, like in half an hour," said Mevlut Ozer, who witnessed the incident at the Kartalkaya ski resort in northwest Turkiye.

The fire began around 3:30 am on the restaurant floor of the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel, authorities said.

Several fire engines and ambulances later surrounded the charred, wood-fronted building, where white bed sheets tied together dangled from at least three upper-floor windows, showing how people tried to flee.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Wednesday one day of national mourning.

Several funerals were held on Wednesday for families, including numerous children who died in the blaze.

"Our hearts and souls are hurting and we are currently trying to fulfill this duty," Erdogan said at one funeral for eight victims in Bolu in western Turkiye.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said there had been 238 guests staying at the hotel, situated at the base of several ski slopes, which smoldered until the afternoon.

"Our pain is impossible to describe," he said, speaking from the resort and offering condolences. Yerlikaya said the fire was out and that search efforts at the hotel had finished.

Investigation underway

An investigation was underway into the fire, which occurred during the school holidays when many families from nearby Istanbul and Ankara headed to the Bolu mountains to ski.

Police detained nine people, including the owner of the hotel, as part of the investigation, Yerlikaya said on Wednesday.

He also reported that the bodies of 45 victims had been handed over to their families, while DNA tests were being conducted to identify the remaining bodies at the forensic institute.

Agencies Via Xinhua