Fire engulfs hotel in Turkish ski resort, killing at least 76 people and injuring dozens

Istanbul, Turkey — A fire engulfed a hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, killing at least 76 people and injuring at least 51 others, the interior minister said. Witnesses said desperate guests tried to escape using ropes, and video showed sheets hanging from windows. Officials suggested that at least two people died after trying to jump from the building to safety, and private broadcaster NTV reported that three people died that way.

At least one of the people received serious injuries, said Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, while 17 others received help for minor injuries. The survivors who evacuated the building were again accommodated in nearby hotels.

“Our pain is great,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters in the resort town of Kartalkaya, about 100 miles northwest of the capital Ankara. “Sixty-six citizens lost their lives and 51 were wounded.”

Other members of the cabinet also came to the scene of the disaster and said that the fire had been put out. The fire broke out at 3:27 a.m. (7:27 p.m. Monday, Eastern) at the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel, which has wood paneling, Yerlikaya said earlier on X.

Yerlikaya said 238 people were registered guests at the hotel when the fire broke out amid peak tourism for the resort due to the two-week school holiday.

Turkish authorities arrested four people, including the hotel owner, “as part of an investigation led by six prosecutors,” Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said in publish on social networks. The hotel owner was among those detained for questioning, according to the Minister of Justice. A panel of five people with expertise relevant to the case will also assist in the investigation, he said.

The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant and spread quickly, although it was not immediately clear what caused it. Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel had undergone inspections in 2021 and 2024, saying “the fire service did not note any negative situation regarding the fire force,” the Associated Press reported.

Some witnesses and reports suggest that the hotel’s fire detection system was not working. Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor, told AP that it took firefighters about an hour to arrive at the scene. Part of the hotel leans against a cliff, which made it difficult for firefighters to put out the fire.

Video aired on Turkish television showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky with a snow-capped mountain behind the hotel.

“I heard screams around midnight, residents (of the hotel) were shouting for help,” Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, told NTV television. “They asked for a blanket, they said they were going to jump… we did what we could, we brought a rope, pillows, we brought a sofa. Some people threw themselves when the flames approached them.”

Officials said they feared the death toll could continue to rise.

The footage shows the destroyed lobby of the hotel with shards of glass on the floor, the reception desk and wooden furniture that has been burned to black.

The authorities warned that the building could collapse.

A survivor who managed to escape the flames told local media that no alarm had sounded in the hotel when the fire started, complaining about the lack of any safety measures such as fire escapes or smoke detectors.

“I pray to God for mercy to our citizens who lost their lives in the fire,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on X.

He said he wished a speedy recovery for those injured in “this tragic accident”, adding that an investigation had been launched. Erdogan also declared Wednesday a day of national mourning in response to the fire, ordering all flags on government buildings and Turkish diplomatic missions abroad to be flown at half-mast.

contributed to this report.