Some customers and employees even claimed to have smelled the smoke and seen the flames as early as 2:30 a.m.
The disaster spread quickly, possibly encouraged by the exterior wooden cladding, trapping customers on the upper floors, some of whom died while climbing out of the window.
Drama in Türkiye: the death toll from the fire in a ski resort rises to 76 deaths
The balance sheet
The Minister of the Interior announced Tuesday evening the death of 76 people, without specifying whether the previous toll of 51 injured had changed.
According to him, 56 of the victims had been identified Tuesday evening and 45 bodies returned to their relatives.
The Turkish press reported Wednesday that 14 members of the same family died in the fire.
The hotel
The management of the Grand Kartal hotel presented its condolences and expressed “its sorrow” in a press release published overnight, assuring “to cooperate with the authorities to shed light on this accident”.
This luxury establishment (several hundred euros per night) is located 35 km from Bolu, the provincial capital, and less than four hours’ drive east of Istanbul. It was practically full during these winter school holidays in Türkiye, with 238 registered customers.
The building, with panoramic views of the mountains, is located near a steep slope, which complicated the intervention of firefighters.
-Türkiye: 76 people died in their hotel fire,
The investigation
The Ministry of Justice announced the opening of an investigation entrusted to six prosecutors and formed a committee of five experts.
At this stage, nine people have been arrested, including the hotel manager.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the hotel had been “verified” by the firefighters in 2021 and 2024. But the ministry and municipality are passing the buck on the issuance of certificates of conformity with safety standards.
Accusations of negligence
Survivors of the disaster unanimously denounced the absence of a fire alarm system, smoke detectors and fire doors.
The Minister of Tourism denied the absence of emergency staircases, saying that the hotel had two.
“It was not the fire but the negligence that caused the death,” wrote the major pro-government daily Hürriyet on Wednesday.
