At least 76 dead after fire engulfs Turkish ski hotel

Fire raged through a 12-storey ski resort hotel in Turkey early yesterday, killing at least 76 people, at least two of whom died jumping from the building to escape the flames.

- RICH BOOTH & ALASTAIR JAMIESON

Four people, including the hotel's owner, were detained for questioning as an investigation began into the blaze at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province's Koroglu mountains, about 300km (185 miles) east of Istanbul.

“We are in deep pain,” interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said after he visited the scene of the disaster. Police detained nine people as part of the investigation, Mr Yerlikaya said.

The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. There were 234 guests, of whom 51 were injured, one of them critically.

“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” said Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor. “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here [outside].”