A fire at a ski resort hotel in Turkey’s Bolu on Tuesday, the 21st of January, killed at least 66 people and left more than 51 injured as panicked guests jumped out of windows in the middle of the night, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
Within hours of the fire, the Turkish Ministry of Interior significantly increased the initial death toll from ten. At least two of the victims died by jumping out of hotel windows.
According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, the fire at the 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel broke out at 03:27 local time when 234 people were staying there.
Footage released in Turkey showed bed linen hanging from the windows, used by those trying to escape the burning building.
Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydin said initial reports suggested that the fire broke out in the fourth-floor restaurant area of the hotel and spread to the floors above.
The governor told reporters that the distance between the hotel in Kartalkaya and the Bolu centre, as well as the cold weather, were the reasons why the fire trucks did not arrive until more than an hour later.
Rescue work continued throughout the morning and the Interior Minister said 267 people had been sent by the rescue services to deal with the fire.
A devastating fire at a hotel in Turkey leaves at least 10 dead, with people jumping out of windows in panic
The tragedy occurred at the popular Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu, Turkey. The fire broke out in the hotel’s restaurant.
Reports confirm 10 fatalities, two of whom died… pic.twitter.com/L3SiPKlQjZ
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 21, 2025
The local mayor said that by mid-morning they were still trying to reach some parts of the hotel.
The Bolu Mountains are popular with skiers from Istanbul and the capital Ankara, and the hotel was very busy at the start of the two-week school holidays. The north-western town is about 170 km from Ankara.
Although only one hotel was affected by the fire, the Governor told the Turkish media that a nearby hotel was evacuated as a precaution.
Ski instructor Necmi Kepcetutan told Turkish television that he managed to escape because he knew the hotel well, but that guests who did not know it as well as he did not do as well.
“People were shouted out of the windows “Save us!” because the smoke was so intense inside. We pulled 20-25 people out,” he told NTV.
The circumstances that led to the fire are not yet clear.