ANKARA — The death toll from an overnight fire at a popular ski resort in northwest Turkey, has risen to 66 while the number of injured rose to 52, 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, has been brought under control and cooling efforts are underway, Yerlikaya said speaking at the scene.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, who traveled to Bolu with Yerlikaya, said among the injured only one of them is in critical condition.
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. At the time the fire broke out there were 238 people inside, according to Yerlikaya.
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
More than 250 emergency workers were dispatched to the area, the Bolu governor’s office said in a statement.
Sheets tied together were seen hanging from the higher floors of the hotel as some of the guests used 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 and an investigation was launched by Bolu prosecutors, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said. Later on Tuesday Tunc announced that four people, including the employer of the facility, had been detained. He didn’t provide names.
While no fire escapes are visible on the images featuring the outside of the hotel from different angles, Culture and Tourism Minister Nuri Ersoy, who also traveled to the scene, said there were two fire escapes inside the building.
Some guests claimed that the fire alarm in the hotel had not sounded, HaberTurk reported, citing interviews with hotel guests at the scene.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the fire and wished the injured a speedy recovery as he vowed to hold those responsible accountable.
“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. “Those responsible will certainly be held accountable,” Erdogan said in a televised speech later Tuesday in Ankara, which he cut short due to the tragedy.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party, also canceled his weekly parliamentary address.
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.
This article has been updated since its initial publication to include the latest death toll.
