The number of victims of a fire at a ski resort in Turkey’s Bolu province has risen to 76, the country’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Wednesday.
The Turkish minister told reporters that nine people, including the hotel owner, had been detained as part of the investigation into the accident. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Investigators are looking into the details of the construction and operation of the hotel from the beginning to the tragedy.
According to Turkish media, the hotel, built in 1974, is clad in wood, which contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. According to one of the rescued guests, there were no smoke detectors or fire extinguishers in the building. A total of 237 people lived in the hotel.
At night on January 21 there was a fire in the Grand Kartal hotel in the Turkish ski resort of Kartalkaya. Initially it was reported about 10 dead, later their number rose to 60, dozens more people were injured.
428 rescuers and 156 pieces of equipment were involved in extinguishing the fire. According to the Daily Sabah, the extinguishing was hampered by the location of the hotel, which is in a mountainous area and firefighters had a harder time reaching it. On Tuesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a day of national mourning over the tragedy at the resort.
The Kartalkaya ski resort is a popular holiday destination located in the Keroglu Mountains region about 270 kilometres from Istanbul and a 2-hour drive from Ankara.
