Türkiye | Anger after the death of 79 people in a mountain hotel

(Kartalkaya) Turkey began burying its dead on Wednesday, the day after a fire which killed at least 79 people in the middle of the night in a luxury hotel in a ski resort in the center of the country, sparking a wave of emotion and numerous accusations of negligence.

In the afternoon, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan showed his emotion at the funeral of eight family members of a former member of his party, the AKP, in the neighboring capital of Bolu.

The head of state was photographed drying his eyes with a white handkerchief, his face marked and directed towards the ground.

Following DNA analyses, the Bolu prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday evening that 79 people had died in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, revising upwards a previous toll of 76 deaths.

While 12 people remain hospitalized Wednesday evening, the Turkish media continue to list the negligence which, according to them, led to this very heavy toll, including the absence of a fire alarm.

“There is no excuse for such deaths in 2025”, judged Tuesday evening Özgür Özel, the leader of the CHP, the main Turkish opposition party, in front of the imposing hotel with the blackened facade where searches took place. place Wednesday to find possible victims, in the middle of a day of national mourning.

During this school holiday period in Turkey, entire families who were staying in this luxury establishment, located two hours from Ankara and less than four from Istanbul, were decimated, surprised in their sleep by the flames and smoke.

“Flames everywhere”

“When I arrived, there were flames everywhere, we could hear screams. […] I saw a person escape from the window,” Cevdet Can, head of a ski school in the resort, told AFP, saying he was very “affected” by the death of a significant number of children.

“I lost five of my students,” a ski instructor, Necmi Kepcetutan, himself who escaped the flames, told AFP.

Other survivors denounced on Tuesday the absence of a fire alarm and fire doors in the Grand Kartal hotel.

Eleven people, including a deputy mayor of Bolu, the city’s fire chief, the owner of Grand Kartal, its general manager and its chief electrician were arrested as part of an investigation launched by the Ministry of Justice, who assigned him six prosecutors.

The hotel management expressed “its sorrow”, assuring “to cooperate with the authorities to shed light on this accident”.

The luxury establishment (several hundred euros per night) was practically full during these winter school holidays in Türkiye, with 238 registered customers.

“Negligence”

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the hotel had been “checked” by firefighters in 2021 and 2024, but several Turkish media claimed on Wednesday that the last inspection actually dates back to 2007.

The ministry and the opposition municipality of Bolu pass on responsibility for certifications of compliance with safety standards.

The state Anadolu agency published on Wednesday a document dated January 2, issued by the municipality of Bolu, attesting to the conformity of a new “café-restaurant” of 70 m² fitted out at 4^e floor of the hotel, where the fire started according to the Turkish press.

Authorities said the fire broke out shortly before 3:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time) Tuesday, and firefighters arrived on scene within 45 minutes. But witnesses and survivors claim that the fire had started earlier.

“It was not the fire, but the negligence that caused the death” of the vacationers, judged the pro-government daily Hürriyet.

The Minister of Tourism denied the absence of emergency staircases, mentioned by some survivors, affirming that the hotel had two.

“I saw emergency exits, but I advise you to compare those of neighboring hotels to those of this hotel…”, a rescuer from the Government Disaster Management Agency told AFP on condition of anonymity. (AFAD).