In a fire in a hotel in the Turkish ski resort of Bol, 10 people died and 32 were injured, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
At least two victims died after jumping from a hotel window, according to Turkish reports.
The fire broke out at the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel at 03:27 local time (00:27 GMT) during the busy holiday period when 234 people were staying there, he added.
Footage circulating in Turkey shows sheets used by those trying to escape from the burning building hanging from windows.
Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydin said initial reports suggested the fire broke out in the restaurant section of the hotel’s fourth floor and spread to the floors above.
The hotel was investigating whether guests were trapped in their rooms as the fire spread.
The governor told reporters that the distance between the hotel in Kartalkaya and the center of Bolu, combined with freezing weather conditions, meant it took more than an hour for fire engines to arrive.
Rescue efforts continued throughout the morning and the interior minister said 267 emergency services had been deployed to respond to the fire.
By mid-morning, the local mayor said they were still trying to reach parts of the hotel.
The Bolu Mountains are popular with skiers from Istanbul and the capital Ankara, and the hotel was operating at full capacity at the start of the two-week school holidays.
The northwestern city is about 170 km (105 miles) from Ankara.
Although the fire was confined to one hotel, the governor told Turkish media that a neighboring hotel had been evacuated as a precaution.
Ski instructor Necmi Kepcetutan told Turkish TV that he was able to escape because he knew the hotel, while guests who did not know it as well as he did were not so lucky.
“People were shouting at the windows ‘Save us’ because there was heavy smoke inside. We pulled out 20-25 people,” he told NTV.
The circumstances that led to the fire are not yet clear.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prosecutors had been assigned to investigate the fire.
