A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said.
At least 51 people also were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed.
Yerlikaya said 45 of the 76 people killed have been identified while efforts to identify the other victims were continuing.
‘Forty-five bodies were delivered to their families. We could not (immediately) identify the others,’ Yerlikaya said, adding that the emergency response teams would conduct a final search for victims on Wednesday.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition, while 17 other people were treated and released.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have started in the hotel’s restaurant section.
Nine people have been detained as part of the investigation into the fire, Yerlikaya said.
Earlier, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel’s owner was among the people detained for questioning in the probe.
At least two of the victims died when they jumped from the building in panic.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a day of national mourning to be observed on Wednesday.
All flags at government buildings and Turkish diplomatic mission abroad would be lowered to half-staff, he said.
A suggested statement says the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
Part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames.
