A fire broke out at a hotel in a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people. As many as 51 other people were injured in the disaster.
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A fire at a hotel in a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey killed at least 66 people on Tuesday, Turkey’s interior minister said.
Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people were injured in the disaster.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition.
The fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel in the resort town of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, according to authorities and reports. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in panic, Governor Abdulaziz Aydin told state-run Anadolu Agency. Private broadcaster NTV said some people tried to get out of their rooms using sheets and blankets.
The hotel had 234 guests, Mr. Aydin said.
Television images showed the roof and upper floors of the hotel on fire.
The wooden cladding and the detection system involved?
According to witnesses and reports, the hotel’s fire detection system did not work.
-The government has appointed six prosecutors to investigate the fire. Broadcaster NTV suggested that the wooden cladding of the hotel’s chalet-style exterior may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
The 161-room hotel is located on the side of a cliff, which hampered efforts to fight the flames, the network also reported.
NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and broken windows, its charred wooden reception desk and a chandelier crushed to the floor.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort located in the Koroglu Mountains, some 300 kilometers east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during school holidays, when hotels in the area are packed.
Aydin’s office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.
Other resort hotels were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.
At the same time, a gas explosion at a hotel in another ski resort in central Turkey injured four people.
The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain winter sports center in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were slightly injured, while another instructor suffered second-degree burns to his hands and face, the Sivas governor’s office said.
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