78 people confirmed dead in fire at Turkish ski resort hotel

The fire at a hotel in a ski resort in central Türkiye on Tuesday killed 78 people, the ministry of Justice said on Thursday, announcing that work to identify the victims had been completed.

The previous death toll, announced on Wednesday evening by the public prosecutor’s office in Bolu, the capital of the province where the disaster occurred, was 79.

Entire families died in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, which broke out shortly before 3.30 (1.30 Belgian time) on Tuesday, according to the authorities. Accusations of negligence have multiplied since then. Survivors and experts have pointed out that the fire alarm system in the 12-storey hotel did not work.

The president of the Ankara Chamber of Architecture, Derya Basyilmaz, who visited the scene, told AFP that the hotel had only one staircase serving as an emergency exit and that it did not comply with standards.

Eleven people, including a deputy mayor of Bolu, the town’s fire chief, the owner of the Grand Kartal, its general manager and its chief electrician, have been arrested as part of an investigation by the authorities. 

 

Emergency personnel at the aftermath of a fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel, 22 January 2025 © PHOTO OZAN KOSE / AFP


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