A devastating fire that ripped through a 12-storey hotel, the Grand Kartal Hotel, in the popular ski resort town of Kartalkaya in northwestern Türkiye, has claimed ten lives and injured another 32.
According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. the blaze started in the restaurant at around 3:27 a.m. local time.
Reports indicate that two of the victims perished after jumping from the hotel in panic, while others attempted to flee by tying bedsheets and blankets together.
Television footage showed the roof and upper floors of the hotel engulfed in flames, with thick smoke rising against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains.
Over 230 guests were staying at the hotel, which was operating at 80-90% capacity due to school holidays.
The wooden chalet-style cladding of the 161-room hotel may have worsened the fire’s rapid spread, according to local media reports.
Emergency services dispatched 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances to the scene. However, efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered by the hotel’s location, which backs onto a cliff.
Guests from nearby hotels were evacuated as a precaution and provided with alternative accommodation.
Kartalkaya, nestled in the scenic Koroglu Mountains, is a picturesque ski resort town about 185 miles east of Istanbul and approximately 100 miles northwest of Ankara.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc has appointed a team of six prosecutors to investigate the tragic incident.
While the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained, Türkiye’s top government officials, including the health, interior, and culture ministers, have pledged to visit the location to assess the situation.
