ANKARA — At least 10 people were killed and 32 others were injured in an overnight fire at a popular ski resort in northwest Turkey, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday.
The fire, which started at around 3:30 a.m. local time in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bolu at a 12-story wooden-clad hotel, was only partly brought under control as of noon.
The interior of the Grand Kartal Hotel’s first floor was largely destroyed by the fire, footage by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency showed. Bolu Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin said at the time the fire broke out there were 234 people inside.
Bolu’da Kartalkaya Kayak Merkezi’ndeki bir otelde çıkan yangının ilk anları cep telefonu kamerasıyla görüntülendi https://t.co/TYX9Elc3KX pic.twitter.com/iGRbzDcRBI
— Anadolu Ajansı (@anadoluajansi) January 21, 2025
The death toll is feared to rise, Bolu Mayor Tanju Ozcan said, as there were still areas that emergency workers were unable to reach. More than 250 emergency workers were dispatched to the area, the governor’s office said in a separate statement.
Sheets tied together were seen hanging from the higher floors of the hotel, with some of the hotel guests using them to escape the fire. Turkey’s private HaberTurk TV said two individuals died while they tried to escape this way.
Kartalkaya’daki otelde can pazarı! İşte böyle kurtulmaya çalıştılar… #bolu #kartalkaya #yangınhttps://t.co/wcYdJAv4DX pic.twitter.com/9HWQYp6wkU
— Haber Takip (@habertakip_org) January 21, 2025
The reason for the fire remains unknown, but an investigation was launched by Bolu prosecutors, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said. According to Turkish media reports, the hotel had no fire escapes.
Some guests claimed that the fire alarm in the hotel had not sounded, HaberTurk reported, citing interviews with hotel guests at the scene.
Yerlikaya, as well as tourism, health and labor ministers who traveled to Bolu, are holding an emergency meeting at the scene, as of this writing.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the fire and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
“We have been closely monitoring the situation through our relevant institutions from the very beginning. Investigations were immediately launched,” he wrote on the X platform.
Kartalkaya ski resort, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Ankara, is one of the top ski destinations in Turkey. The resort hosted some 250,000 people in 2023, according to a 2024 report by Anadolu. The resort usually operates at full capacity during this time of the year when primary and high schools are on winter break.
