ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has detained nine people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, authorities said.
Several funerals were held on Wednesday for the families, including many of the children, who died in Tuesday’s fire, which sent panicked hotel guests jumping from windows in the middle of the night.
“Our hearts and souls are hurting and we are currently trying to fulfill this duty,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at a funeral for the eight victims in Bolu, western Turkey.
“I am asking for patience for the entire family and our nation.” The bodies of 45 victims have been handed over to their families, while forensic DNA tests are being carried out to identify the others, the government said.
The fire broke out in the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort, a 12-story hotel that had 238 registered guests. He was engulfed in flames after the fire broke out on the restaurant’s floor around 3:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).
Authorities have faced mounting criticism over security measures at the hotel, with survivors reporting that they did not hear a fire alarm during the incident.
Guests said they had to navigate smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness, and other survivors described scenes of panic as they fled through smoke-filled corridors.
The hotel promised full cooperation with the investigation and said it was “deeply saddened by the losses”.
At one funeral in Ankara, the coffins of a family of five were lined up in the Ahmet Hamdi Aksekija Central Mosque.
The parents, a doctor and a teacher, went to Kartalkaya with their three children to ski during the school holidays, a Reuters witness said at the funeral.
At least 20 victims of the fire were children, according to local media.
President Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday a day of national mourning after the tragedy occurred at the height of the winter tourist season, with many families from Istanbul and Ankara traveling to the Bolu mountains for skiing.
