Today (Wednesday, 22 January) has been declared a national day of mourning in Türkiye, for the victims of a fire that started in the early hours of Tuesday at a popular Turkish ski resort, claiming 76 lives, from whom at least 20 children, and left dozens other injured.
The Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, located in the Bolu Mountains, around 300 km east of Istanbul had 234 checked-in guests in the midst of a winter school holiday that saw families with children flock to the resort. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a snow escapade turned into a hellish experience for everyone at the hotel.
According to reports, the fire broke out at 3:27 am local time (1:27 am Brussels time) in the restaurant of the establishment. The lack of fire alarms and sprinklers combined with the wood façade of the 12-storey building led to the quick spread of the flames.
Yangın olur uçagın yok,
— Umberto ECO (@umberto_eco_) January 21, 2025
Sel olur alt yapın yok,
Deprem olur üstyapın yok,
Maden patlaması olur, yaşam odan yok,
Enflasyon %70 olur, çaren yok,
Otel yanar, yangın merdiveni yok.
10 milyon mültecin olur, planın yok.
Tek sözün;
Bayrak inmeyecek, ezan susmayacak.#Bolu pic.twitter.com/0DoPsNIg4u
To make matters worse, the fire department only responded at 4:15 am, with fire trucks reaching the site one to one and a half hours later, according to witnesses. And, once there, their efforts to put out the fire were also limited by the location of the hotel. “Because the rear side is on a slope, intervention could only be made from the front and sides,” explained Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
“Our hearts and souls are hurting and we are currently trying to fulfil this duty,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at one funeral for eight victims in Bolu, referring to finding out why the fire was so deadly and if anyone can be held accountable. “I pray for patience for the entire family and our nation.”
President Erdogan seen crying during funeral, aftermath of ski resort hotel fire in Bolu, Türkiye pic.twitter.com/LugcXQjsTy
— Türkiye Today (@turkiyetodaycom) January 22, 2025
Six prosecutors have been appointed to lead the investigation into the devastating incident, with nine people already in custody for questioning, including the manager of the hotel. Questions have been raised about the hotel’s fire safety standards with the head of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation telling the BBC that the size of the fire suggested that “the fire system either does not exist or was not designed in accordance with the standards”.
Survivors have said that no fire alarm went off and those lucky enough to evacuate the building did so because they could smell the smoke. By the time many of the guests realised what was happening, it was too late for them leave the hotel, as the hallways were already engulfed by smoke and no appropriate lighting could be seen to point them towards emergency exists.
In horrific details, witnesses have described how people, desperately trying to escape the flames, threw themselves and their children out of the windows, from as high up as the 11th floor. At least two of the deaths were caused by falls instead of directly the fire.
“They tried to climb down using bedsheets. The bedsheets ripped as one friend tried … and he unfortunately fell on his head,” Omer Sakrak, an employee of a neighbouring hotel told Reuters. “One father was yelling about his one year-old child: ‘I will throw my child or he will burn’.”
While Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that “no negative situation regarding fire competence” was reported by the fire department, Bolu Mayor Tanju Ozcan said that the last check was carried out in 2007. After that, the hotel entered the competencies of the Ministry of Tourism and, Ozcan said, no control has been carried out since.
“There will always be fires, but we would not expect so many people to die in this type of building,” said Prof Sevket Ozgur Atayilmaz, head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Yildiz Technical University, who has worked on fire safety planning. “If the structure is designed correctly for fire, if there are escape routes, and if the smoke is evacuated correctly, it is possible to overcome the fire without loss of life.”
While the investigation is still ongoing, so far only 45 of the victims have been identified, with the rest of the bodies undergoing DNA testing so they can be returned to their families.
