Today (22/1) is a day of national mourning following the explosion at the hotel of the Kartalkaya ski resort in the province of Bolou, in the north of the country. Several children are believed to be among the victims.
The 12-story hotel, which was home to 238 guests, was gutted by flames after the fire started on the restaurant floor. The authorities have already arrested 9 people, including the owner of the hotel.
“A one-day national mourning has been declared to share the grief of the relatives of our brothers who lost their lives in a fire that broke out in the hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya,” wrote Recep Tayyip Erdogan in X.
“On Wednesday, January 22, our flags will fly at half-mast in the country until sunset. In any case, those who caused such a disaster, Today is not a day to do politics, it is a day of solidarity, a day to be one. May God protect our country and our nation from such painful events,” he added.
A day of national mourning has been declared to share the pain of the relatives of our brothers who died in a fire in a hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya.…
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan)
Apocalypse Images
The fire injured 51 people as terrified holidaymakers jumped from its windows to escape the fury of the blaze.
“People started jumping, they tried to get down using sheets,” said Omer Shakrak, a witness and employee of a nearby hotel.
Chaos reigned at the scene of the fire. “It was like the Apocalypse. The flames surrounded the hotel in half an hour. A father was shouting, I will throw my child or he will burn,” said Mevlut Ozer, a witness to the incident in the Kartalkaya ski resort.
🚨: A fire broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu, Turkey, killing 3 people and injuring 21 others.
The governor said there were 234 guests at the hotel, according to local media. The condition of the others weren’t immediately clear.
— R A W S G L 🌎 B A L (@RawsGlobal)
The Mitsotakis message
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
“On behalf of Greece, I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” the prime minister said in X.
Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives in the ski resort fire in Bolu, Turkey. On behalf of Greece, I extend heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish a swift recovery to the injured.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR)
Complaints about insufficient fire protection
According to complaints, the hotel did not have a water-based fire extinguishing system that is automatically activated in the event of a fire, and the alarm did not sound.
Initial reports that it did not even have external escape stairs in case of fire were denied by Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, who cited a certificate from the Fire Department.
It was also complained that there is no fire station in Kartalkaya, which is one of the most important ski resorts, relatively close to Istanbul and Ankara. The nearest Fire Service station is one hour and 15 minutes away.
A fire at a ski resort hotel in Turkey’s Bolu mountains killed more than 60 people and forced panicked guests to jump out of windows in the middle of the night
— Reuters Asia (@ReutersAsia)
