At least 66 dead and 51 injured by fire at a ski centre in Turkey

The fire at a 12-story hotel in a popular ski centre in the northwestern part of Turkey in the early hours of Tuesday caused the death of at least 66 people, two of whom were thrown out of the building to escape the flames, according to officials.

The fire fell at the Grand Charter Hotel in the mountains of Koroglu, about 300km east of Istanbul, causing at least 51 injured people, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred at the start of the school winter break, when all hotels in this region are packed with tourists.

We feel deep pain. Because of the fire that blew up in the hotel we lost 66 lives”, Minister Yerlicaya declared after the visit there.

Atakan Yelkovan, who was standing on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency that the situation was chaotic in the hotel's upper floors while customers were trying to escape from the fire, some trying to get out of their rooms using blankets and sheets.

The upper floors were shouting. They used sheets to get off... Some tried to jump”, He said.

Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition, while another 17 were released after the treatment.

The hotel had 238 registered clients, according to authorities. The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the firemen intervened at 4:15.

The government appointed six prosecutors to launch investigation due to the fire, believed to have started at the hotel restaurant site. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said four people, including the hotel owner, had been detained for questioning.

According to ski instructor Necmi Kupcetitan, who was staying at the hotel, he was asleep when the fire broke out, but he quickly left the building. He told television. NTV later helped about 20 more people leave the hotel.

The fire engulfed the entire hotel, unable to find emergency exits, he said.

I can't find some of my students. I hope they're all right” He said.

TV images showed the peak and high floors of the building burning.

Witnesses and reports reported while noting that the hotel's alarm system had failed in case of fires.

My wife sniffed something burning. Could not activate”, Mr. Yelkovan said, from the hotel's clients. We tried to get up, but we hit the fire. We went down and out of”, He said, adding that the firefighters arrived in an hour.

Part of the 161-room hotel is built on the side of a hill, making it difficult to put out the fire.

Because the back of the hotel was on the hill, intervention could only be done from the front and from the two side pages”, Minister Yerlicaya said.

Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel was inspected in 2021 and 2024, and that the fire department had not reported <x0-cysts negative in terms of ability to approach fire”.

In a reaction in Ankara, President Recep Tayip Erdogan said that We received sad news in the morning hours from Bulu. Our brothers and sisters died and were hurt in a fire that broke out at the” hotel.

All necessary steps have been taken to investigate all aspects of the incident and to hold fire triggers” responsible, He added.

Meanwhile, another gas explosion occurred at a hotel in another ski centre in the central part of Turkey, causing the injuries of four people. / VOA