At least 66 people have been killed in a fire that engulfed a popular Turkish ski resort hotel, leaving some to jump out of windows.
The fire broke out at the wooden-clad 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu at 03:27 local time (00:27 GMT) during a busy holiday period when 234 people were staying there.
An initial toll of 10 dead was raised significantly in the hours after the fire by Turkey’s interior ministry. At least two people died after trying to jump to safety.
It took 12 hours for the fire to be put out. Four people have been arrested, including the owner, the justice minister says.
The identities of all 66 are yet to be confirmed, but among those released so far are Vedia Nil Apak, a 10-year-old swimmer with Fenerbahce Sports Club in Istanbul, and her mother Ferda.
The club said it had learned of the news with “deep sorrow” in an Instagram on post on Tuesday.
Among the children who died were Alican Boduroğlu and his younger sister Elif Nas, who were at school in Istanbul, and their mother Ebru.
Eslem Uyanik, a young chef at the hotel, died along with Ceren Yaman Dogan, the daughter of a well-known local businessman and her 17-year-old daughter Lalin.
Nedim Turkmen, a writer for Sozcu newspaper, his wife Ayse Neva and their two children aged 18 and 22 were also named, along with Prof Atakan Yalcin, who was dean of Ozyegin University Business School.
Dilara Ermanoglu, 24, was among the victims, and her father who had gone to Bolu to look for her was treated by health workers for a heart attack.
Health minister Kemal Memisoglu said that of the 51 injured people, one was receiving treatment in intensive care, and 17 people had been discharged.
“Our pain is great,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
Footage circulating in Turkey showed linen hanging from windows which was used by those trying to escape the burning building.
Ski instructor Necmi Kepcetutan told the BBC he was on the second floor of the hotel when the fire broke out and managed to get out via the ski room. He then helped with relief efforts.
Eyewitnesses said the family that owned the hotel had been there at the time of the fire and Mr Kepcetutan said he saw some of the family outside.
The cause of the fire has not yet been found, but Bolu governor Abdulaziz Aydin said initial reports suggested it had broken out in the restaurant section of the hotel’s fourth floor and spread to the floors above.
Aydin said the distance between the hotel, in Kartalkaya, and the centre of Bolu, paired with the freezing weather conditions, meant it took more than an hour for fire engines to arrive. Emergency services sent 267 workers to the site.
The hotel was investigating whether guests, including children, were trapped in their rooms as the fire spread.
The hotel had two fire escapes, according to the interior minister, and one hotel worker said they had managed to rescue 30-35 people.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prosecutors had been allocated to investigate the blaze.
The hotel was last inspected in 2024, and the tourism minister said there had been no concerns regarding the hotel’s fire safety prior to Tuesday’s disaster.
However, the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) said that according to regulations, an automatic fire extinguisher system is needed.
“In the photos on the hotel’s website, it is seen that the automatic sprinkler system, which was supposed to be installed in 2008, was not installed,” the union said in a statement.
It added that it was unclear if other regulations had been complied with but, based on the statements of survivors, “it is understood that the detection and warning systems did not work and the escape routes could not be determined”.
The Bolu mountains are popular with skiers from Istanbul and the capital Ankara, which is roughly 170km (105 miles) away, and the hotel was operating at high occupancy at the start of two-week school holidays.
Former UK ambassador to Turkey, Sir Peter Westmacott, told the BBC that he had stayed in the area in the past and that the fire “feels very personal”.
“The fact that so many people have lost their lives is just devastating news for those of us who care about Turkey,” he said.
Although the fire was confined to one hotel, the governor told Turkish media that a neighbouring hotel was evacuated as a precaution.
Guests evacuated from the hotel were taken to hotels closer to the centre of Bolu.
By BBC News
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