Kartalkaya fire: At least ten dead as fire tears through hotel at popular ski resort
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Sixty-six people have died in a horrifying inferno as a fire engulfed at a popular hotel at a ski resort in Turkey. Dozens of other tourists have been rushed to hospital with injuries following the blaze, which started in the restaurant of the hotel in Kartalkaya, northwestern Turkey.
Dramatic images show flames roar from the large building, which caters for skiiers and snowboarders during open seson from between around December 20 to March 20. Tuekey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site. There are 234 guests staying at the hotel at the moment, he added. The nationalities of the victims have not yet been confirmed.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, officials and reports said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel. He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.
