ANKARA: A fire raged through a 12-storey hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkiye early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said.
At least 51 people also were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometres east of Istanbul, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed.
“We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,” Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site.